Allahabad HC grants anticipatory bail to satirist in case about her remarks on Pahalgam attack

The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted interim anticipatory bail to satirist Madri Kakoti in a case related to her remarks on social media about the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, Live Law reported.

Justice Rajeev Singh granted relief to Kakoti in the first information report filed against her at the Hasanganj police station based on a complaint by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad leader Jatin Shukla in April.

Kakoti, known as Dr Medusa on social media, is an assistant professor in the linguistics department at Lucknow University.

In his complaint, Shukla accused Kakoti of targeting India’s unity, integrity, and sovereignty through posts on her handle on X.

He alleged that Kakoti frequently used terms such as “saffron terrorists” on her platforms and added that some of her posts had reportedly been shared by Pakistani media channels.

Kakoti was subsequently booked for several offences, including endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, Live Law reported.

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 the aftermath of the attack, several states, including Assam, launched a crackdown on persons making statements that authorities deemed were pro-Pakistan.
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