The Supreme Court on Monday refused to quash the first information report filed against Bhojpuri singer Neha Singh Rathore for her social media posts about the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi dismissed Rathore’s petition, stating that it was not inclined to intervene at this stage and instead asked her to “go and face trial”, PTI reported.

The court said that it was not commenting on the merits of the case and advised Rathore to contest specific charges during the framing stage.

The terror attack at Baisaran near the town of Pahalgam on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 17 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.

In late April, Rathore was booked for a video posted on social media in which she said that the terrorist attack was an intelligence and security failure on the part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government.

Rathore also claimed in the video that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would now seek votes in Bihar in the name of the Pahalgam attack just as he did after the 2019 Pulawama terror attack, which killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel.

The Assembly polls in Bihar will take place on November 6 and November 11. The votes will be counted on November 14.

An FIR was registered against Rathore based on a complaint at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. She was booked for sedition under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under the Information Technology Act.

Earlier in September, the Allahabad High Court had also refused to quash the case, holding that the allegations prima facie disclosed a cognisable offence and warranted investigation.

The court said that Rathore had used Modi’s name in a derogatory manner in her posts. Following this, she approached the Supreme Court.

Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Rathore before the Supreme Court, contended that the charges invoked in the case, including sections related to “mutiny” and “waging war against the state” under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, were grossly disproportionate, Bar and Bench reported.

Sibal argued: “I can’t be tried for mutiny. There is no offence. How can I be tried for mutiny over a tweet?”

He urged the court to at least strike down the extreme charges, if not the entire FIR, Live Law reported.

However, the court said it would not interfere at this stage.

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