Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Friday (5 December) the anticipatory bail plea of ​​folk singer Neha Singh Rathore was rejected. The singer is accused of making baseless, anti-religious and anti-national statements on social media against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in connection with the murder of 26 tourists by asking them about their religion in Pahalgam, Kashmir.

A single bench of Justice Brijraj Singh passed this order on Rathore’s anticipatory bail plea. The bench said that she is not cooperating in the investigation as per the orders of the previous bench, which had rejected her plea for quashing of the FIR. The bench also said that the Supreme Court had also not granted him relief on his plea to quash the FIR and had only allowed him release at an appropriate time.

‘Constitutional rights have been violated’

In this incident, an FIR was registered against Neha at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow on April 27, 2025, the investigation of which is ongoing. Opposing his arguments, government lawyer Dr. V.K. Singh argued that the petitioner not only made derogatory remarks against the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the BJP but also violated his constitutional right to freedom of expression under Article 19 of the Constitution by making anti-national statements at a time when tensions with Pakistan were at their peak.

‘Received praise on social media in Pakistan’

Dr. V.K. Sin said that Neha’s statements have received a lot of praise on social media in Pakistan. It was also argued that Neha’s statements regarding Bihar elections cross the limits of freedom of expression. The government lawyer also told the bench that Neha was not cooperating in the investigation and despite the notice, she was not available for questioning.