Bombay HC grants bail to student held for post on Indo-Pak conflict; raps Maharashtra govt, orders her instant release

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.

Mumbai: In what comes as a major embarrassment to the Maharashtra government, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday described it as “absolutely shocking” and “radical” and ordered immediate release of a 19-year-old Pune student arrested for a social media post regarding the ongoing India-Pakistan tensions.

The order came from a division bench comprising Justice Gauri Godse and Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan.

"This is not a case where the girl has to remain in custody anymore," the bench said, directing her release from Yerwada Central Jail of Pune on Tuesday itself to enable her to appear for her college exams.

However, the court had a word of caution for the teenager student and counselled her to act responsibly in the future and refrain from uploading such posts. The court passed its sternest remarks for the state's handling of the situation.

"Such a radical reaction from the state government was unwarranted and has turned a student into a criminal," the bench observed slamming the government.

The student was arrested earlier this month for her social media post criticising the Indian government during the Operation Sindoor.

The second-year student from Sinhgad Academy of Engineering in Pune—a private institution affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University—had filed a plea asserting that her expulsion from the college was “arbitrary and unlawful” and quashing the FIR against her by the Kondhwa police station.

Additional Government Pleader PP Kakade argued the post was "against national interest”. The girl was represented by Advocate Farhana Shah.

The girl was booked under under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including, section 152 (acts endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India), section 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), section 197 (imputations or assertions prejudicial to national integration), section 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), section 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), section 353 (statements conducing to public mischief.)