Comments on social media: SC grants anticipatory bail to folk singer Neha Singh Rathore
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to folk singer Neha Singh Rathore in a case filed against her over a social media post on last year's Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.
A bench of justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar granted the relief to her after noting that she had appeared before the authorities and recorded her statements in connection with the case.
The top court asked her to continue cooperating in the investigation.
Rathore has challenged Allahabad High Court order of last year rejecting her plea for anticipatory bail in the case.
On January 7, the top court granted interim protection from arrest to Rathore in a case filed against her over the social media post.
The said comments allegedly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP in connection with the killing of 26 tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
The top court had issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and the complainant in the case, and said no coercive steps shall be taken against her.
It had directed Rathore to appear before the investigating officer and cooperate in the probe.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on December 5 last year had rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by the folk singer.
It had observed that Rathore had not cooperated with the investigation despite directions issued by an earlier bench that had dismissed her petition seeking quashing of the FIR.
The FIR against Rathore was registered at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow on April 27, and the investigation is underway.
The FIR accused Rathore of targeting a particular religious community and threatening the unity of the country. She challenged the FIR filed against her by one Abhay Pratap Singh at the Hazratganj Police Station in the last week of April. Singh accused Rathore of having "repeatedly attempted to incite one community against another on religious grounds".
Rathore contended in her plea that she had been wrongfully implicated under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including promoting communal hatred, disturbing public peace, and endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.
She also faces charges under the Information Technology Act.
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Became finance minister first time at Deve Gowda's insistence: Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who recently presented his record 17th Budget as the state's finance minister, recalled on Tuesday that he first took on the responsibility in 1994 at the insistence of then CM H D Deve Gowda.
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, he said that if he had not accepted the responsibility then, he wouldn't have presented the record number of budgets.
"Deve Gowda was the chief minister. I asked for the Revenue Department during the meeting at senior leader R L Jalappa's office at his medical college.... But Jalappa said he wanted the Revenue portfolio, so that department went to him. When I asked what would be given to me, Gowda said to take the Finance Department. I told him I didn't want Finance, but Gowda insisted, saying that they wanted a trusted person," Siddaramaiah said.
He said, "I did not know economics, nor had I studied it, so I said I didn't want that department. But Gowda forcefully gave that portfolio to me."
At this point, Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, quipped that Gowda might have had farsightedness. "Since you (Siddaramaiah) became finance minister then, today you have presented 17 budgets. If not, I'm not sure what would have happened....you should thank him (Gowda) for it."
Siddaramaiah replied to Ashoka, saying, "If not then, he would never have become (the finance minister)."
The issue arose as Ashoka, while comparing the first Budget presented by Siddaramaiah for 1995-96 to the one presented by him last week said, "it (the first budget) had weight....there is nothing in this budget compared to it."
Noting that Siddaramaiah himself previously stated that he faced criticism when he first became the finance minister with comments like, "How can a person who cannot count a hundred sheep present a state budget?", Ashoka said, "It was Gowda who made such a person the finance minister."
Siddaramaiah hails from the Kuruba (shepherd) community.
Siddaramaiah's relationship with JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister Deve Gowda is now considered as "friends-turned-foes" in Karnataka's political circles, after the former was thrown out of the JD(S) in 2005 for anti-party activities.
