'Free speech doesn't mean you can hurt sentiments': Calcutta HC denies bail to Sharmishtha Panoli, next hearing on June 5

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday denied interim bail to 22-year-old influencer and law student Sharmishtha Panoli. The High Court observed that freedom of speech is not absolute and does not permit anyone to hurt religious sentiments. 

The 22-year-old law student was arrested for an allegedly offensive video, targeting people over their religious identity, following Operation Sindoor. Later, she apologised for the comments and deleted the video after backlash. 

"Sentiments of a section of the people of our country have been hurt. We have freedom of speech, but that does not mean you hurt the sentiments of others. Our country is full of diversity," the High Court said.

Panoli, a Pune-based student with 2 lakh social media followers, was arrested in Gurugram, leading to a massive row and 14 days in judicial custody in Kolkata.

Panoli's counsel argued that her arrest was illegal since the offences mentioned in the FIR were non-cognisable and no prior notice was served. Responding to Panoli's counsel, the police said a notice had indeed been issued but couldn't be delivered as Sharmishtha and her family allegedly 'fled' to Gurugram. 

While denying her bail, the High Court said that the primary case registered in Kolkata would be treated as the principal case since it was filed first. 

The court declared that all actions in the other cases filed against her will be dropped. It stated that the investigative agency will continue its investigation in the main case against Panoli and that West Bengal has been instructed to make sure that no more FIRs are filed against her on the same charges.

Meanwhile, the man who filed a police complaint on the basis of which the social media influencer was arrested has allegedly gone missing. Complainant Wajahat Khan's father claimed that he had not been seen since Sunday night. He added the family received threatening phone calls ever since Sharmishtha Panoli's arrest. 

 "My son is innocent and secular. He cannot insult Hinduism. We have been receiving threats since Sharmistha's arrest," his father Saadat Khan said in an interview with Aaj Tak.

On June 5, when the police must give the case diary to the bench and the state must file an affidavit, the matter will be heard again.