The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked the Mamata Banerjee government to produce the case diary in connection with the arrest of Pune law student Sharmistha Panoli on June 5 when the high court will take up her interim bail plea for hearing.
According to PTI, the high court’s vacation bench of Justice Partha Sarathi Mukherjee directed the Garden Reach police station case in connection with which Panoli was arrested will be investigated, and proceedings in other FIRs will remain till further order.
Sharmishta Panoli arrested for communal post
On May 31, a court in Kolkata remanded social media influencer Sharmishta Panoli, arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, in judicial custody for 14 days. Kolkata Police arrested Ms. Panoli from Gurugram, Haryana on Friday night. She is a law student in Pune, Maharashtra.
Court remanded her in judicial custody
Panoli was produced before Alipore Court in Kolkata, which remanded her in judicial custody for 14 days. According to the Kolkata Police, several attempts were made to serve legal notices to Ms. Panoli and her family, but the attempts were unsuccessful because Ms. Panoli and her family absconded.
Subsequently, an arrest warrant was issued by the court, based on which she was arrested from Gurugram on Friday.
FIR was lodged in Garden Reach Police Station
“The case relates to an Instagram video by a lady named Sharmishta Panoli that hurt the religious sentiments of a particular community. FIR was lodged in Garden Reach Police Station. Attempts to serve notice as per law couldn’t be successful since the accused, with her family absconded. Subsequently, warrant of arrest was issued by the court of law, based on which she was arrested from Gurgaon yesterday,” as per the Kolkata Police.
However, Panoli had deleted the video and issued an apology on May 15.
I do hereby tender my UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY whatever was put are my personal feelings and i never intentionally wanted to hurt anybody so if anybody is hurt I’m sorry for the same. I expect co-operation and understanding. Henceforth, i will be cautious in my public post. Again…
— Sharmishta (@Sharmishta__19) May 15, 2025
