Social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli being produced at Alipore court, West Bengal, on June 2, 2025
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday (June 5, 2025) granted interim bail to social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli, who was arrested by Kolkata Police for a social media post on Operation Sindoor.

The 22-year-old student was arrested in Gurugram and brought to Kolkata on a transit remand. The High Court, while granting interim bail to Ms. Panoli, said “at this point there is no need of custodial interrogation”.

The Calcutta High Court directed Ms. Panoli to furnish a bail bond of ₹10,000.

Earlier, Kolkata Police had defended the arrest of social media influencer and law student, stating that the posts made by her amounted to “hate speech” and should not be conflated with freedom of expression.

Ms. Panoli’s arrest sparked political outrage, with the Opposition BJP accusing the Mamata Banerjee-led government of “State-sponsored repression”.

(With inputs from PTI)

Published – June 05, 2025 03:08 pm IST