Allahabad High Court dismisses singer-activist Neha Singh Rathore’s plea, says her tweets against PM Modi were derogatory and cannot be ignored
The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Bhojpuri singer and activist Neha Singh Rathore, who had asked for the quashing of an FIR registered against her over a series of social media posts. The court said that the allegations made against her showed a clear case for police investigation and directed her to cooperate with the authorities. The order was passed on Friday, 19th September, by a division bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Justice Syed Qamar Hasan Rizvi. The bench told Rathore to appear before the investigating officer on 26th September at 11 a.m. sharp and cooperate with the investigation until the police submit their final report. The judges observed that the charges against her were not baseless and prima facie pointed to a cognizable offence. They also remarked that the timing of her tweets was important and sensitive, since they were posted immediately after the Pahalgam terror attack. Earlier booked by Lucknow police In April this year, Lucknow’s Hazratganj police had booked Rathore under different sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The FIR was based on her posts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). In those posts she wrote, after the terror attack in Pahalgam, Modi came to Bihar to threaten Pakistan so that he could garner votes in the name of nationalism. She had also written that instead of finding terrorists and admitting its mistake, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to plunge the country into war. “In the Bihar elections, they can either get votes in the name of Hindu-Muslim or India-Pakistan; there is no third option, and these people will choose those two options,” she further wrote in one of the posts. The court said, she used name of PM in disrespectful manner While rejecting her plea, the High Court noted that Rathore had used the “name of the Prime Minister of India in a derogatory and disrespectful manner.” The judges said that her posts not only targeted the Prime Minister but also the Home Minister and suggested that the BJP government was willing to sacrifice the lives of soldiers and even risk war with a neighbouring country for its political gains. The court pointed out that many such tweets were part of the case diary, and several had been specifically mentioned in its order. According to the bench, “The comments she made, the petitioner has used a religious angle, Bihar election angle, accusing the Prime Minister by name and saying that the B.J.P. Government is sacrificing the lives of thousands of soldiers for its vested interest, pushing the country into a war with a neighbouring country.” Rathore’s lawyer, Advocate Kamal Kishore Sharma, argued that her posts fell under the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. He said she had simply expressed her views and that no state authority had the right to suppress her voice. The State, however, was represented by Government Advocate V.K. Singh, joined by advocates S.N. Tilhari and Vipul Kumar Singh, who opposed the petition and defended the FIR. Following an examination of the arguments and evidence presented, the Allahabad High Court declined to cancel the FIR and asked Rathore to cooperate fully in the probe that was already in progress. With this ruling, the singer will now be required to appear before the investigators later this month and keep cooperating until police submit their report.
The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Bhojpuri singer and activist Neha Singh Rathore, who had asked for the quashing of an FIR registered against her over a series of social media posts. The court said that the allegations made against her showed a clear case for police investigation and directed her to cooperate with the authorities.
The order was passed on Friday, 19th September, by a division bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Justice Syed Qamar Hasan Rizvi. The bench told Rathore to appear before the investigating officer on 26th September at 11 a.m. sharp and cooperate with the investigation until the police submit their final report.
The judges observed that the charges against her were not baseless and prima facie pointed to a cognizable offence. They also remarked that the timing of her tweets was important and sensitive, since they were posted immediately after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Earlier booked by Lucknow police
In April this year, Lucknow’s Hazratganj police had booked Rathore under different sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The FIR was based on her posts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). In those posts she wrote, after the terror attack in Pahalgam, Modi came to Bihar to threaten Pakistan so that he could garner votes in the name of nationalism.
She had also written that instead of finding terrorists and admitting its mistake, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to plunge the country into war.
“In the Bihar elections, they can either get votes in the name of Hindu-Muslim or India-Pakistan; there is no third option, and these people will choose those two options,” she further wrote in one of the posts.
The court said, she used name of PM in disrespectful manner
While rejecting her plea, the High Court noted that Rathore had used the “name of the Prime Minister of India in a derogatory and disrespectful manner.” The judges said that her posts not only targeted the Prime Minister but also the Home Minister and suggested that the BJP government was willing to sacrifice the lives of soldiers and even risk war with a neighbouring country for its political gains.
The court pointed out that many such tweets were part of the case diary, and several had been specifically mentioned in its order. According to the bench, “The comments she made, the petitioner has used a religious angle, Bihar election angle, accusing the Prime Minister by name and saying that the B.J.P. Government is sacrificing the lives of thousands of soldiers for its vested interest, pushing the country into a war with a neighbouring country.”
Rathore’s lawyer, Advocate Kamal Kishore Sharma, argued that her posts fell under the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. He said she had simply expressed her views and that no state authority had the right to suppress her voice.
The State, however, was represented by Government Advocate V.K. Singh, joined by advocates S.N. Tilhari and Vipul Kumar Singh, who opposed the petition and defended the FIR.
Following an examination of the arguments and evidence presented, the Allahabad High Court declined to cancel the FIR and asked Rathore to cooperate fully in the probe that was already in progress. With this ruling, the singer will now be required to appear before the investigators later this month and keep cooperating until police submit their report.
