Latest news with #SomasekharSundaresan
Hans India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
HC raps Maha govt as student is held over India-Pak post
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Maharashtra government for arresting a 19-year-old student from Pune for her social media post on Indo-Pak hostilities, calling its reaction 'radical'. A vacation bench of Justices Gauri Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan asked the teen's lawyer to immediately file a bail plea, which it said it would grant today itself. The bench said such a 'radical' reaction from the state government was unwarranted and has turned a student into a criminal. The student from Pune was arrested earlier this month for her social media post on Indo-Pak hostilities amid Operation Sindoor. The girl, who is presently in judicial custody, moved the high court challenging a decision by her college to rusticate her. '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,' the bench remarked. 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 job of an educational institution is to not just impart academic education but also to help students reform, the court said, adding that the college ought to have given the girl an opportunity to explain. 'Instead of reforming her and making her understand, you have turned her into a criminal. You want the student to turn into a criminal?' the court said.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Are you making her a criminal? Release girl held over post: HC
Mumbai: The Bombay HC Tuesday ordered the immediate release of a 19-year-old rusticated by a Pune college and behind bars since May 9 for her online post on India-Pakistan hostilities during , calling her arrest "absolutely shocking" and orally observing that such "radical reaction from the state will radicalise people". Tired of too many ads? go ad free now She was released from Yerwada prison late Tuesday. "She's not a hardcore criminal," a vacation bench of Justices Gauri Godse & Somasekhar Sundaresan remarked as they also suspended the "hurriedly passed" rustication order. HC said, "At the most, her act of sharing the post can be termed an indiscretion by a young student". HC noted that she had deleted her post within two hours and tendered an apology yet an FIR was registered two days later. The judges said, "Who arrests a student like this? What does the state want? Does the state want students to stop expressing themselves and be converted into criminals? Is this the intention of the state govt?" The teen pursuing BE in IT at Sinhgad Academy of Engineering has missed two papers. "It appears that police officers and the college are bent upon ruining her life," the judges orally remarked. HC ordered her release to prepare and appear for her semester IV exams, which started on May 24. "We see no reason to detain the petitioner in custody," the HC order said. During the pre-lunch hearing, Justice Godse orally asked the college counsel: "Someone expresses something, you want to ruin the life of a student? How can you rusticate like this? Did you call for any explanation?" During the hearing, as the college counsel tried to suggest that the management's actions were in "national interest", HC said, "We have seen everything (in the petition)… This is the age to make mistakes, rectify them and deal with them. That is your role as an educational institution. What impact will a student's post have on national interest?" When the college counsel haltingly said "there is tremendous unrest", Justice Sundaresan interjected, saying, "She has suffered enough". The bench orally remarked, "You are turning her into a criminal? She made a mistake, she apologised. You must reform… help her if you feel she did something wrong… Straight away rusticated. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now How can you rusticate like this? Without any hearing? This is the approach?... We can understand you want to take action; it is a different thing altogether. You cannot refrain a student from appearing for exams…She is not a criminal". HC directed Pune police to ensure that the student is released by evening by communicating its order over the phone to the jail authority. Expressing its distress in open court at the actions of Pune police and Sinhgad Academy of Engineering for rusticating the student, who is pursuing Bachelor of Engineering in IT, HC agreed with the teenager's lawyer Farhana Shah's plea to permit her to take the remaining three papers, one of which is on Thursday. In its written order, HC suspended the rustication saying, "The order of rustication completely ignores the act of the applicant in deleting the post, expressing remorse, and tendering an apology.'' The FIR against the student invoked grave offences under the BNS, 2023, including Section 152 that criminalises actions that threaten the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India. It punishes individuals who, through words, signs, or other forms of communication, incite secession, armed rebellion, or subversive activities, or encourage feelings of separatism. The FIR, HC noted, was registered by a police constable who claimed to be patrolling the area concerned that day. The FIR alleged she shared a post on May 7 over the armed hostilities which "allegedly caused tension between the two different religions and is likely to adversely affect public peace''. On May 16, the student was denied bail by a Pune magistrate. Her challenge before the sessions court was pending and the hearing scheduled on Wednesday, said Shah, who said she hence filed a civil petition to challenge the student's "arbitrary and unlawful" rustication by the college. During the hearing, HC said, "What does the state want?... This (the arrest) is the radical reaction from the state which will radicalise people. " It asked the student's lawyer to file a criminal petition to enable it to grant her bail.
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Bombay HC orders immediate release of Yemeni national ‘detained in police station' for overstaying in India
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered immediate release of a Yemeni national detained by the Mumbai Police for overstaying in India and questioned how he could be detained in the police station. Prima facie, the court found that there was no supporting provision in law which would enable the authorities to detain him at a police station and as per authorities, there are no detention centres made available by the government. The court also stressed on the need for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to handle cases of overstaying under the Foreigners Act and also questioned the lack of proper detention facilities in the city for such purposes. It also raised a question on how the man was detained without a formal order and who would have been held responsible in case anything untoward happened to him during the detention period. A vacation bench of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan passed an order while hearing an application by one Mohammed Qassim Mohammed Al Shibah, a former employee of Yemen Airlines, who claimed that he was illegally detained in the Byculla police station premises. He said in December 2023, the high court had granted relief to another person in a similar case. The applicant said the petitioners, including him, are refugees from Yemen registered under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), whose visas expired in September 2015. Deportation orders were issued against six members of his family that included three minors. The plea claimed that Al Shibah travelled to India between 2002 and 2015 and when the civil war broke out in Yemen, he and his family had sought asylum in India. The applicant, through advocate Weseley Menezes, said since he was illegally detained earlier this month on May 16, he approached the high court with an interim application in a petition filed by the family that challenged various orders passed against them under the Foreigners Act, 1946. The application seeking interim release contended that the respondent authorities would not be entitled to detain him in a police station as there are no other allegations against him except for 'overstay' in India. Menezes claimed that his client was not a threat to public order and that the family, which had been granted refugee status until August 2027, was in the process to resettle in Canada and the same required another 12 months in India. However, advocate Purnima H Kantharia, representing the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), Mumbai, Additional Commissioner of Police, Special Branch- FRRO along with Union Home and External Affairs ministries, opposed the plea. She referred to Section 3 (2) (e) of the Foreigners Act and Foreigners Order, 1948, and said that the same provides the central government the powers to make orders regarding foreigners. The bench noted that the applicant had entered India on a diplomatic passport with valid permission and was working in India and there were no criminal antecedents against him. 'Prima facie, we do not find that the provision of the Foreigners Act would be of any help to detain him in a police station,' the HC noted. It added that the Foreigners Order provides powers to impose restrictions on movement related to place of residence, therefore, there was no supporting provision to detain him in the police station. 'We do not find any reason why he should continue to remain in Byculla police station,' the bench remarked. It directed the applicant present in the court to be immediately released from the custody of respondents and that he shall not leave Greater Mumbai without seeking the court's permission. The bench said there was no reason that the police or FRRO could seize the applicant's passport without following any procedure and asked Kantharia to hand over his original diplomatic passport to his lawyer. The HC sought affidavits in reply by respondent authorities to the main petition and the interim application within two weeks, followed by petitioner's rejoinder, and posted further hearing to June 16.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
'Absolutely shocking': Bombay HC slams Maharashtra government over arrest of 19-year-old student for post on Op Sindoor
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Maharashtra government while granting bail to a 19-year-old engineering student from Pune arrested for her social media post critical of Operation Sindoor. A vacation bench of Justices Gauri Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan said it was "absolutely shocking" that the student has been treated like a "hardcore criminal" by the government. "This is absolutely shocking. It appears like police officers are bent upon ruining her life. Equally the college," Justice Godse remarked ordering the immediate release of the girl, currently lodged in Pune's Yerwada Central prison. The court ordered the student to be released on Tuesday itself and made it clear that it will not at all accept any excuses later if the authorities fail to release her today before sunset. 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 said, suspending the rustication order passed against her and directing the institution to issue her a hall ticket. The rustication order has been issued hurriedly without giving the student an opportunity to give her explanation, the court said. The court also noted that the student should not have been arrested at all since she had deleted the post immediately, expressed remorse and apologised for the same.
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Indian Express
‘Treating her like she's a criminal': Bombay HC pulls up govt, Pune college for rustication, arrest of student over Operation Sindoor post
Hearing a plea by a 19-year-old student from Pune who was rusticated by her college after a social media post amid Operation Sindoor and later arrested and jailed, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday pulled up the Maharashtra government and Sinhgad Academy of Engineering for the action taken against her. Sinhgad Academy of Engineering in Pune had rusticated the second-year Information Technology student on May 9 after an FIR was registered against her at the Kondhwa police station in Pune. She was arrested on the same day and is currently lodged in Yerawada jail. Seeking direction from the Bombay High Court to quash the rustication, the student sought that she be reinstated and be allowed to appear for the semester exams that were to begin from May 24. Hearing her plea on Tuesday, a vacation bench of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan said that she should be released from jail to appear for exams. She has already faced consequences for her post, and as she has expressed remorse, she needs to be reformed, the court said. The court asked her lawyer to file a criminal petition seeking her release, which will be heard later in the day. The Pune college's rustication letter stated that while the institution recognised the right to free expression, it also expected students 'to exercise such rights responsibly and within the bounds of the law'. It further said that the student's posts on her social media account 'have been deemed to undermine the reputation of the college and may incite disharmony within the campus community and society'. In her plea, filed through advocate Farhana Shah, the student claimed she was rusticated in an 'arbitrary' manner without issuing any show-cause notice or any opportunity to be heard and the same was in violation of the principles of natural justice and infringed upon her fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution. The petitioner contended that she had merely re-posted the Instagram post without any ill-intention and had immediately apologised. During the hearing, Justice Godse orally remarked to the lawyer representing the institute: 'What is this? What kind of conduct is this? Someone expresses something, you want to ruin the life of a student? How can you rusticate like this? Did you call for any explanation? We understand you want to take some action, but you cannot refrain her from appearing for exams. Let her appear for the remaining papers.' After the lawyer representing the college said that the action was taken considering 'national interest', the bench went on to remark: 'What national interest? This is an age to make mistakes and rectify. She has already faced consequences. What impact will a student's comment have on national interest? She has suffered enough. You are treating her like a criminal. She accepted she made a mistake and removed it. You need to reform her. You need to help her, or you want to convert her into a criminal?' After the college's lawyer said that it supports students, the bench said that the institution could hold an inquiry, but its action should be with the intention to reform the petitioner. 'Educational institutions should not do this. You are supporting her so that she gets converted into a criminal? What kind of approach is this,' the bench questioned the college. The court was informed that the sessions court is likely to hear the student's bail application on Wednesday, May 27, but she has to appear for an exam on the same day. After Additional Government Pleader P P Kakade submitted that she can appear for exams with police escort while being in custody, the bench responded: 'She is not a criminal. She cannot be asked to appear with police around her, and she has to be released (from custody).' The court allowed Shah to file a criminal plea seeking her release and sought a government lawyer to take instructions from the police and posted a hearing later during the day.
