New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 7, 2026) barred Uttar Pradesh Police from coercive steps against Bhojpuri singer Neha Singh Rathore, after the Allahabad High Court denied her relief. The singer, popular on social media, was charged with violating national security in April 2025, after her posts, seen as critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, were reportedly shared online by Pakistan-based journalists.Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling, passed by a bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Atul S. Chandurkar, implies Rathore would not be arrested until the protection is lifted. The apex court has asked the singer to be available for questioning and participate in the police investigation related to the case, registered at the Hazratganj Police Station in the state capital Lucknow.Legal news site Live Law reported that the Supreme Court has specifically asked Rathore to be present before the investigating officer in the case on January 19, as asked by Lucknow police.The folk singer had approached the Supreme Court after the Allahabad High Court had refused to grant her anticipatory bail earlier this week, Live Law reported. The high court had refused to quash (or cancel) the case against her last September. At the time, the high court had reportedly found her remarks on social media “derogatory”, according to media reports.In her posts last April, Rathore had allegedly held Modi and his party’s government responsible for failing to prevent the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed last year. “Name of the prime minister of India has been used in a derogatory and disrespectful manner,” legal news site Bar and Bench quoted the September order as saying.“Criticising the Prime Minister should not result in FIRs, being labelled anti-national or a traitor or being subjected to abuse. The PM himself says criticism is welcome,” Rathor said recently, the Times of India reported.Notices from two police stations were reportedly pasted on the door of Rathore’s home in Lucknow earlier this week, in response to which she visited the Hazratganj police station on January 4. As she left the station, she told the Times of India she did not know the complainant in the case against her.The complainant, according to a news report published on NDTV.com, is a person named Abhay Pratap Singh, a Lucknow resident who found her posts “objectionable”. Based on his complaint, police registered a case against Rathore under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), on charges such as attempting to promote sectarian animosity, disturbing public tranquility and endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, police said, NDTV reported.In October 2025, the Supreme Court had turned down Rathore’s plea to quash the case filed against her. The top court had agreed with the Allahabad High Court’s September ruling that said the case needed to be probed, LiveLaw had reported. A two-judge Supreme Court bench had said she needed to “face trial”, LiveLaw reported in October.