Sharmistha Panoli granted interim bail by Calcutta High Court; BJP welcomes it
A bench of Raja Basu Chowdhury of Calcutta High Court observing that there is no need to take the young woman into custody for interrogation granted her interim bail on a personal bond of Rs 10,000.
However, the court said that Panoli must cooperate with the investigation and surrender her passport.
The law student, a resident of Delhi and studying law at Pune University, was booked at a Kolkata police station for making controversial comments on social media in the aftermath of 'Operation Sindoor' following which she was arrested from Gurugram.
Panoli who was brought to Kolkata on May 30 and was placed before a court was given judicial custody till June 13. However, the law student challenged the lower court order and approached the high court where she was granted bail.
The court observed that there is no immediate need to take her into custody for questioning. She may return to Pune for academic purposes, but must cooperate with the investigation.
Earlier, the High Court had summoned the case diary from the state in this matter.
It had also stated that the investigation of other cases filed against her in different police stations would remain suspended. Additionally, no new cases could be filed against her for the same matter.
The court also clarified that while freedom of speech is a right, one cannot make remarks against any community.
The incident originated from a video Panoli posted on May 14, 2025, in response to a question from a Pakistani follower regarding India's military actions after the Pahalgam terror attack.
The video reportedly included derogatory comments about a particular community, and invited strong criticism, including death and rape threats aimed at Panoli.
Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari expressed happiness over the granting of interim bail to Panoli.
'Justice has been served today - Sharmistha Panoli, a law student, aged about 22 years, has been released on interim bail by the Hon'ble High Court at Calcutta,' he wrote on his X handle.
'This is a case of police atrocities as an innocent young lady, for using her freedom of speech and expression, has been illegally arrested by Kolkata Police and was sent to judicial custody. This is yet another example of police overzealousness and eagerness to please its political masters,' he added.
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