Supreme Court Grants Anticipatory Bail To Singer Neha Rathore In Case Over Posts On PM Modi, Pahalgam Attack

The Supreme Court today made absolute the interim protection from arrest granted to folk singer Neha Singh Rathore in connection with an FIR lodged against her for allegedly making objectionable posts on social media regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pahalgam terror attack.

A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar passed the order, after the State counsel informed that pursuant to the Court's earlier order, Rathore had appeared before the authorities and her statement had been recorded.

Granting the relief, the bench said that she shall continue to cooperate with the investigation.

The bench was dealing with Rathore's plea challenging the Allahabad High Court order which denied her anticipatory bail. In January, the Court had granted the singer interim protection, adding that she shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when called, firstly on January 19. Non-appearance, if any, was to be viewed seriously.

To recap, the FIR against Rathore alleges that following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 tourists were killed by a Pakistan-backed terrorist organization, she published "anti-India statements" on her X (formerly Twitter) handle.

The prosecution claims that at a time when the government was preparing to take revenge against Pakistan and had imposed strict restrictions, Rathore was continuously making several objectionable posts to "adversely affect the national integrity, to incite people to commit crimes against each other on the basis of religion and caste".

By the impugned order, the High Court rejected Rathore's anticipatory bail plea. It observed that the 'X' Posts/tweets posted by her were against the Prime Minister and that the PM's name had been used in 'disrespectful manner' in the alleged posts.

The Court further noted that while Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, it is subject to reasonable restrictions for public order, decency or morality. It added that Rathore had made the tweets at the 'crucial time' when the unfortunate Pahalgam incident took place on April 22, 2025.

The order came almost 2.5 months after High Court rejected Rathore's plea challenging the FIR in this case over multiple charges, including "endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India".

Case Title: NEHA SINGH RATHORE @ NEHA KUMARI Versus STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ANR., SLP(Crl) No. 21174/2025