The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted interim bail to 22-year-old law student and social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli, who was arrested for hurting religious sentiments by her alleged communal posts.
Granting the interim bail on a security bond of Rs 10,000, Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury of the vacation bench noted “the gravity of the offence” and said that “she is a law student and of a tender age”, and “ready to cooperate” with the investigation. The court said she would not be allowed to leave the country, and in case of educational requirement, she has to seek permission from the chief judicial magistrate.
The bail order also stated that she would not intimidate witnesses or tamper with evidence and the Investigating Officer (IO) would not “unnecessarily summon” her since she is pursuing her law studies.”
Two days ago, the vacation bench of Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee denied bail to her, saying in a country of “remarkable diversity, freedom of speech and expression doesn’t mean one can go on hurting others”. He had also sought the case diary from the Kolkata Police.
After going through the police case diary, Justice Chowdhury on Thursday said the arrest warrant for Panoli appeared to be issued “in a mechanical manner”. “The primary challenge was that the complaint did not disclose a cognizable offence… nothing of the words spoken by the petitioner (Panoli) could be made out,” he said.
Not finding the video of the alleged communal post in the case diary, Justice Chowdhury said: “Where is it (video) in the complaint? So that means the police did not look into it. The magistrate’s order says that the report is awaited.”
Defending the police decision to arrest her from Gurgaon in Haryana, Advocate General Kishore Dutta, appearing for Kolkata Police, submitted, “The petitioner (Panoli) was on the run. She was apprehended outside the state… Once an FIR is registered, the accused is supposed to cooperate with the investigation, and, if required, police can make arrests. Police went to her residence to serve notice, but she was not found (there). The arrest warrant was issued by the court. On May 20 at 12:50 am, she took a flight to Delhi.”
Challenging her arrest and the registration of an FIR against her, Panoli’s counsel DP Singh said, “Blasphemy is not the law of the land.”
“During Operation Sindoor, a war of words was going on (on social media)… The target was a Pakistani national. She deleted (the video) on May 8. (I am) challenging the arrest and FIR as they don’t show a cognisable offence,” her counsel argued.
Justice Chowdhury then asked, “The complaint says she is a law student, and the particular school she is studying in is also mentioned. I want to know, is she in politics? Is she so famous that everyone knows everything about her? Then how come it is known that she is pursuing law and at which school?”
Panoli’s counsel said that on May 17, she was told (by officers at the police headquarters) that the local police station would provide security. “They (Panoli’s family) found people in front of their house… they were so scared, so they booked tickets and left. They were not aware of what was to come, but they knew there was a threat to their lives,” Singh said.
Refuting the police’s claim that they had visited Panoli’s Anandapur residence on May 16, May 17, and May 18 and found no one, Singh said, “Her mother was there. There is CCTV footage, and guards’ testimony.”
On being informed that Panoli had been receiving threats, Justice Chowdhury asked police what steps they were taking to provide “appropriate protection” to her. “If she (Panoli) can be apprehended, then they (those who threatened Sharmistha) should also be apprehended,” Justice Chowdhury said.
After getting relief from the court, Panoli’s father, Prithviraj, said he was happy. “As a parent, I am very happy. We had full faith in the judiciary. She can now lead a normal life and not be in jail… Like any parent, we would want security for our child. She is a very intelligent girl and will learn. I had not asked her, but she deleted the videos.”
Panoli is expected to be released from jail on Friday.