Maha: HC grants bail to 19-yr-old student arrested for her social media post on 'Operation Sindoor'
Mumbai, May 27 (UNI) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a 19-year-old student from Pune who was first rusticated by her college after her social media post that was critical of 'Operation Sindoor', India's counter-terror strikes in Pakistan on May 7, and she was later arrested by local police.
A vacation bench of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan, while granting bail to the second-year student of a course in Information Technology at Pune's Sinhgad Academy of Engineering College, directed her release on bail and also pulled up the Maharashtra government for its "radical" reaction to her post.
While observing that the girl had posted the comment, then deleted the same and apologised for it as well, the court held that the state government, instead of giving her a chance to reform, had got her arrested, thereby turning her into a criminal.
The bench said such a "radical" reaction from the state government was unwarranted and has turned a student into a criminal.
"This is an absolutely shocking case. Are the police bent upon ruining the girl's life? Is she a hardcore criminal?" the court remarked.
At the most, the girl's act of sharing such a post can be termed as an "act of indiscretion" by a young student, the bench said.
"The girl has posted something and then realised her mistake and apologised. Instead of giving her a chance to reform, the state government has arrested her and turned her into a criminal," it noted.
The court questioned the conduct of the government and the college. "Someone is expressing their opinion, and this is how you ruin her life? A student's life has been ruined," it said.
Additional government pleader P P Kakade said the girl's post was against the national interest.
The court, however, said national interest would not suffer because of a post uploaded by a student who has realised her mistake and apologised.
"How can the state arrest a student like this? Does the state want students to stop expressing their opinions? Such a radical reaction from the state will further radicalise the person," the court said.
The bench also rapped the college for rusticating the girl, saying that an educational institution's approach should be to reform, not punish.
The court also pulled up the Sinhgad Academy of Engineering for its action taken against her and asked the college to allow her to appear in the forthcoming examination.
Advocate Farhan Shah, while appearing for the petitioner, challenged her rustication in the court, contending that the petitioner was rusticated in an 'arbitrary' manner without issuing any issuance of a show-cause notice or grant of any opportunity to be heard, to her.
Adv Shah contended that the same was in violation of the principles of natural justice and that the same infringed upon her fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution.
Shah sought direction from the High Court to quash the rustication and issue directions to allow the petitioner to appear for the semester examination.
During the hearing, the court was also informed that the petitioner was arrested earlier this month after she had reposted a message from an Instagram account called Reformistan. The post criticised the Indian government for 'provoking a war against Pakistan' during the then ongoing Operation Sindoor.
After receiving threats online, she deleted the post within two hours and issued an apology. Despite this, she was arrested the same day by the Kondhwa police, following the registration of a FIR against her, and she was lodged at the Yerwada Prison in Pune under judicial custody after her arrest.
A local court had earlier rejected her bail plea, Adv Shah said.
When it was brought to the notice of the High Court, the bench expressed deep concern over how a young student was treated by the authorities and asked the lawyer to immediately file a bail application.
The judges assured that they would grant her bail on the same day.
After hearing the bail application at length, the bench ordered the student to be released on bail forthwith, noting that she should not have been arrested at all in the first place since she had deleted the post immediately, expressed remorse and apologised for the same.
This is not a case where the girl has to remain in custody anymore, the HC said, adding, the girl has to be released on Tuesday itself.
"The applicant (girl) shall be released on bail by the Yerwada prison on Tuesday itself," the bench stated.
The concerned officer of the prison is directed to ensure that she is released today evening itself so that she can appear for her college examination, the court noted.
The court also suspended the rustication order passed by the girl's college and directed the institution to issue her a hall ticket so that she can appear for the examination.
The rustication order has been issued hurriedly without giving the student an opportunity to give her explanation, the HC pointed.
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