Overview
- A Supreme Court bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Atul S. Chandurkar issued notice and directed that no coercive steps be taken against her.
- Rathore must appear before the investigating officer on January 19 and cooperate with the probe, with the court warning that any failure to appear will be viewed seriously.
- The FIR, lodged on April 27 at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow, concerns her social-media comments about the April 22 attack that killed 26 tourists, and the investigation remains ongoing.
- Prosecutors allege her posts targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP and sought to incite communal crimes and harm national integrity, invoking sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.
- The Allahabad High Court had earlier refused anticipatory bail after noting the use of the prime minister’s name in a disrespectful manner and asserting non-cooperation, which her counsel contests by citing her January 3 appearance before the investigating officer.