The Supreme Court has dismissed a Tamil Nadu government petition against a high court order that scrapped police custody of folk singer Shiva Raj aka Comrade Kovan, facing sedition charges for allegedly criticising chief minister Jayalalithaa, agencies reported on Monday.

The decision came after weeks of intense criticism of the state government’s move by activists and opposition parties in Tamil Nadu, who called the arrest of the anti-alcohol campaigner a murder of democracy and another instance of rising intolerance in the country.