HC slams arrest of student, grants bail

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a 19-year-old student from Pune who was arrested earlier this month over a social media post on Indo-Pak hostilities.

- Urvi Mahajani

The Court also sharply criticised the Maharashtra government for its "radical" and "unwarranted" response.

A vacation bench of Justices Gauri Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan ordered her immediate release from Yerwada Prison, stating it was "absolutely shocking" that a young student had been treated like a "hardcore criminal" despite showing remorse. "This is not a case where the girl has to remain in custody anymore," the court observed. "She should not have been arrested at all."

The student, a second-year Information Technology student at Sinhgad Academy of Engineering, had reposted content from an Instagram account named 'Reformistan' that criticised the Indian government's actions in the ongoing Operation Sindoor.

After facing backlash and threats, she deleted the post within two hours and issued a public apology.

Despite this, she was arrested on May 7 by Kondhwa police and later denied bail by a local court, her advocate Garhana Shah informed the HC.