Calcutta HC grants interim bail to Sharmishtha Panoli, asks cops to ensure 22-yr-old influencer's safety

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted interim bail to Sharmishtha Panoli, the 22-year-old law student and influencer who was arrested for posting a video with communal comments on social media.

The court has instructed Kolkata Police to act on the petition filed by the influencer regarding threats to her safety. 

As part of the bail conditions, Sharmishtha has been barred from leaving India without prior permission from the Chief Judicial Magistrate. The influencer has also been directed to furnish a bail bond of ₹10,000.

Pune law student Panoli was arrested in Gurugram for a deleted video causing religious outrage, and her remanded custody has been extended until June 13.

Sharmishta Panoli's father, Prithviraj, denied the Kolkata Police's claim of her absconding. Despite visiting police headquarters and Anandapur police station, they were declared absconding and arrested.

He also said that the Kolkata Police shared false and misleading information and presented two "visitor slips". He said that these "visitor slips", containing the names and photos of Sharmishtha and Prithviraj, were issued by the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar on May 15. 

Panoli deleted the video and issued an unconditional apology, but multiple FIRs were filed, leading to a combined case in Kolkata. On Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court denied interim bail to Panoli, stating that freedom of speech is not absolute and does not permit harm to religious sentiments.

At the time, the High Court said that all the FIRs filed against Panoli would be combined into one case, which would be investigated in Kolkata.