Hearing the case of freelance journalist Prashant Kanojia, who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for posting a tweet on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Supreme Court today asked the government to release him immediately.

While granting Prashant Kanjia a bail in the case, the court asked the government why was he was arrested and under what provisions.

Prashant Kanojia was arrested by the police on Saturday for posting a tweet and a Facebook post against UP CM Yogi Adityanath.

A vacation bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi took note of the submission of lawyer Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Prashant Kanojia's wife Jagisha Arora, that the plea needed urgent hearing as the arrest was "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

An FIR was registered against Prashant Kanojia at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow in which UP Police alleged that the accused made "objectionable comments against the CM and tried to malign his image".

Prashant Kanojia had shared a video on Twitter and Facebook where a woman is seen speaking to reporters of various media organisations outside the CM's office, expressing her desire to marry Yogi Adityanath and claiming that she had sent him a marriage proposal.

The Uttar Pradesh government has countered the bail application filed by Prashant Kanojia's wife who challenged Kanojia's arrest in the Supreme Court.

The UP government argued that the high court should have been first approached. It was argued that this court does not ordinarily entertain writ petition unless the high court has first been approached.

The Supreme Court slammed UP government's arguments and said, "Have you ever some across remand for 11 days in such a case? Sit behind the bars day after day and challenge the order? That is not a very fair stand."

The Supreme Court bench also said that the court does not appreciate the tweets posted by Prashant Kanojia but those cannot be grounds to put him behind bars.

"We need not comment on the nature of the posts/tweets for which the action has been taken. The question is whether the petitioner's husband ought to have been deprived of his liberty. The answer to that is prima facie in the negative. We find that the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India and particularly under Articles 19 and 21 are non-negotiable," the Supreme Court said.

The Supreme Court however said it is not interfering with the trial.

"It is made clear that this order is not to be construed as an approval of the tweets on social media. We only deprecate the severeness of the action," the court said.

The Yogi Adityanath government has opposed Prashant Kanojia's bail plea and said that they have checked his Twitter profile and observed that he has been posting inflammatory content against God and religion. They argued that he has also tweeted about politicians and other public personalities.

The Supreme Court said, "A citizen's right to liberty has been infringed. We have gone through the records. Opinions may vary. This sort of thing should not have been published. But why arrest?"

The court also asked, "Under what provision has he been arrested for this?"

A group of journalists and activists held a protest in Delhi on Monday over the arrest of journalist Prashant Kanojia and the editor and the head of a Noida-based TV channel by the Uttar Pradesh Police, alleging that it is an attack on the freedom of expression.

They demanded the immediate release of Prashant Kanojia, Anuj Shukla, who is the editor of Noida-based TV channel Nation Live, and its head Ishika Singh, who have faced police action over the release of alleged objectionable content against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.