Arrested influencer Sharmishta Panoli's lawyer, a Muslim, calls her good student

India Today

2 days ago

A Muslim lawyer has stepped forward to defend Sharmishta Panoli, the 22-year-old law student arrested over a controversial video, calling her a 'good student' and raising serious questions about the Kolkata Police's handling of the case.Speaking to India Today TV on Monday, advocate Md Shamimuddin alleged procedural lapses in her arrest. 'The laptop and mobile phone of Sharmishta were seized by the investigating agency. A statement had also been recorded. So, she is not required for the purpose of investigation anymore.'advertisementPanoli, a fourth-year law student in Pune with a large social media following, was arrested on May 30 from Gurugram after a now-deleted video sparked outrage for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. She was remanded to judicial custody till June 13 by a Kolkata court.
The lawyer claimed the arrest was illegal and unnecessary. 'Technically, the investigating agency should have served her with a notice under Section 35(3) of BNSS. They went to her house, found it locked, and without trying other means like email or WhatsApp, they directly moved the court for a warrant,' he said, accusing the police of skipping mandatory steps."If you do not find a person who is at home, and you want to serve a notice to that person, there is a law that you can affix that particular notice at a conspicuous place of her home, maybe at the door of her home. You can even serve this notice through email, through WhatsApp. But they did not try all these ways," Shamimuddin said.advertisementHe further said that his client was cooperating fully with the investigating agency."If she had been evading the process of law, then perhaps she would not have given her laptop and her mobile phone to the investigating agency after her arrest. In fact, she cooperated with the investigating agency. She had given a statement to them. So she had done her part," the lawyer contended.Kolkata Police, however, maintain that they followed due process. 'All legal procedures were duly adhered to... All attempts were made to serve notice, but she was found absconding on every occasion,' it said in a post on X.In court on Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court refused interim bail to Panoli, observing that 'freedom of speech does not mean hurting religious sentiments'. The bench noted India's diversity and added, 'We must be cautious... Heavens will not fall if someone is kept in custody for a few more days.'While critics have slammed Panoli for using derogatory language in response to a social media user questioning Operation Sindoor, Shamimuddin said the case is still under investigation. 'Let the police investigate the matter. If they file a charge sheet, then we will go for trial,' he said.advertisementWhen asked whether his faith was offended by Panoli's words, Shamimuddin said, 'If something wrong has been done by her, it will come out in the charge sheet... Everyone who has erred should be pardoned, if that person comes out clean.''She is a fourth-year student of Symbiosis, Pune, and she's a good student. That is the reason she landed up in Symbiosis,' he added.Panoli had earlier issued an unconditional apology and deleted the video, but the controversy had already snowballed, leading to multiple FIRs. The High Court has clarified that all related FIRs will now be merged under a single case being investigated in Kolkata. The matter will next be heard on June 5.