The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday reprimanded social media influencer and law student Sharmishta Panoli for passing derogatory remarks against a minority community.
Noting that her comments hurt the religious sentiments of a community, the single-judge Bench of Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee said that India being a diverse country, the freedom of speech should not be misused to hurt others.
Panoli moved the High Court seeking quashing of the case registered against her and consolidation of different first information reports (FIRs) over the video.
Appearing for the 22-year-old law student from Pune, Senior Advocate DP Singh submitted that even basic human rights like change of clothes or medicines were not being allowed to Panoli in jail. Even a terrorist would be entitled to this, he said, adding that she had Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and was facing problems in jail.
The Senior Counsel pointed out that the FIR did not have any content and yet, raids were being conducted across the country.
The High Court directed the jail authorities to ensure basic amenities were provided to Panoli. The case in which she was arrested would be treated as the principal case, it held and listed the matter before the next Vacation Bench for hearing on June 5.
Representing the State of West Bengal, Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandyopadhyay vehemently opposed the petition. He said all facilities provided to any other prisoner would be provided to Panoli and nothing more.
Earlier on May 31, a Kolkata court had sent Panoli to 14-day judicial custody over an allegedly derogatory video against a minority community.
The video was posted by Panoli on Instagram on May 14 in response to a question from a Pakistani follower regarding India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Panoli allegedly made derogatory remarks in the video about Islam and Prophet Muhammad. She further criticised Bollywood actors for their silence on the issue. The video soon went viral and sparked widespread backlash. After allegedly receiving death and rape threats following the post, she deleted the video on May 15 and issued a public apology on X.
Kolkata Police arrested Panoli on the night of May 30 in Gurugram, Haryana.
Police claimed that multiple attempts were made to serve legal notices to Panoli and her family, but they could not be traced. Panoli was eventually taken into custody from Gurugram based on a court-issued arrest warrant, it added.
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