The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain singer and activist Neha Singh Rathore’s plea seeking to quash an FIR lodged against her over a social media post on the Pahalgam terror attack, directing her instead to face trial.
A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Kuldeep Bishnoi clarified that it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, and noted that this was not the stage to interfere with the “charge of mutiny” relating to endangering India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity.
“It is merely a rejection of quashing. Go and face trial,” the bench told Rathore, while granting her liberty to raise her objections at the stage of framing of charges.
Rathore had moved the top court challenging the September 19 order of the Allahabad High Court, which refused to quash the FIR filed at Hazratganj Police Station in April by complainant Abhay Pratap Singh.
The FIR accuses her of targeting a particular religious community and threatening the unity of the country through her posts. Singh alleged that Rathore had “repeatedly attempted to incite one community against another on religious grounds.”
In her plea, Rathore argued that she had been wrongfully implicated under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including offences related to promoting communal hatred, disturbing public peace, and endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India. She also faces charges under the Information Technology Act.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene at this stage means the trial proceedings against Rathore will now go ahead before the competent court.
