Kolkata, Jun 5 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted interim bail to social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli, who was arrested by Kolkata Police for allegedly uploading a video with communal comments.

The court held that the complaint against her does not disclose any cognisable offence.

Panoli, a 22-year-old law student, was arrested from Gurugram in Haryana last week, after an FIR was filed against her at the Garden Reach Police Station in Kolkata.

The bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury ordered that she be enlarged on bail bond and security of Rs 10,000, and directed her to cooperate with the investigation into the case.

The court also directed her not to leave the country without its permission, while holding that the trial court will consider if she applies for its consent to go abroad for educational purposes.

It further directed the police to provide protection to Panoli, as she complained of having received threats following her social media post.

Pointing to the fact that Panoli is a law student studying in an institute at Pune, the court noted that she is not a history-sheeter.

The police had maintained that the complainant stated Panoli’s now-deleted video “was insulting to the religious belief of a class of citizen of India, and amounted to promoting disharmony and hatred between different communities”.

Panoli, who has been in judicial custody since she was brought to Kolkata on transit remand following her arrest from a hotel in Gurugram on May 30, prayed for interim bail and quashing of the FIR lodged against her.

During the course of the hearing, the judge observed that since Panoli was arrested for her alleged controversial remarks, those reportedly making threats to her should also have been apprehended.

Her counsel, D P Singh, told the court that she had gone to a police station in Kolkata between May 15 and May 19 to lodge a complaint over threats made to her and crowds agitating in front of her residence.

She had also visited the cyber crime section of Kolkata Police to register her complaint against the online threats, Singh stated.

Singh claimed that there was a war of words on social media among people across India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

The prosecution produced the case diary of the investigation into the matter before the court as per its June 3 direction.

A warrant of arrest was issued by a magistrate court on May 22 on the basis of the FIR dated May 15.

Advocate General Kishore Datta, appearing for the state, submitted before the court that the accused was on the run and apprehended from outside West Bengal.

Panoli’s lawyer said she had not fled Kolkata, but acted on serious apprehensions owing to the alleged threats being made to her over the social media post.

Singh stated the FIR does not disclose any cognisable offence, and that Panoli was not made aware of the grounds of her arrest, which is mandatory under law.

The court noted that in the complaint, nothing was stated as to what was written or shown in the alleged social media post.

Singh said that Panoli, after uploading the post on May 7, had deleted it on May 8.

The high court noted that the seizure list contained a mobile phone and a laptop of Panoli, and that the offending video and contents were not there in the case diary, the complaint and the FIR.

Singh submitted that Article 22 (I) of the Constitution and section 47 of BNSS, which state that an arrestee must be informed of grounds of his/her arrest, were violated by the police, as they did not furnish any ground for arrest except that there was a warrant against her.

Maintaining that Panoli’s arrest was illegal, Singh claimed that no notice was served to her for appearing before the police for investigation into the complaint.

Responding to the court order, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said “justice has been served today”.

“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,” Adhikari said in a post on X.

Following Panoli’s arrest, the Kolkata Police had stated: “Hate speech targeting any religious figure or community or any class of citizens of India, which has potential to incite disharmony and hatred between different communities, is a punishable offence in the newly implemented Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.” “Hate speech & abusive language should not be misconstrued as freedom of speech & expression as enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution,” it added. PTI AMR SMY RBT