Are you making her a criminal? Release girl held over online post on India-Pakistan: Bombay HC

MUMBAI: The Bombay HC Tuesday ordered the immediate release of a 19-year-old rusticated by a Pune college and behind bars since May 9 for her online post on India-Pakistan hostilities during Operation Sindoor, calling her arrest "absolutely shocking" and orally observing that such "radical reaction from the state will radicalise people". She was released from Yerwada prison late Tuesday."She's not a hardcore criminal," a vacation bench of Justices Gauri Godse & Somasekhar Sundaresan remarked as they also suspended the "hurriedly passed" rustication order. HC said, "At the most, her act of sharing the post can be termed an indiscretion by a young student".HC noted that she had deleted her post within two hours and tendered an apology yet an FIR was registered two days later. The judges said, "Who arrests a student like this? What does the state want? Does the state want students to stop expressing themselves and be converted into criminals? Is this the intention of the state govt?"The teen pursuing BE in IT at Sinhgad Academy of Engineering has missed two papers. "It appears that police officers and the college are bent upon ruining her life," the judges orally remarked. HC ordered her release to prepare and appear for her semester IV exams, which started on May 24. "We see no reason to detain the petitioner in custody," the HC order said.During the pre-lunch hearing, Justice Godse orally asked the college counsel: "Someone expresses something, you want to ruin the life of a student? How can you rusticate like this? Did you call for any explanation?"During the hearing, as the college counsel tried to suggest that the management's actions were in "national interest", HC said, "We have seen everything (in the petition)… This is the age to make mistakes, rectify them and deal with them. That is your role as an educational institution. What impact will a student's post have on national interest?" When the college counsel haltingly said "there is tremendous unrest", Justice Sundaresan interjected, saying, "She has suffered enough".The bench orally remarked, "You are turning her into a criminal? She made a mistake, she apologised. You must reform… help her if you feel she did something wrong… Straight away rusticated. How can you rusticate like this? Without any hearing? This is the approach?... We can understand you want to take action; it is a different thing altogether. You cannot refrain a student from appearing for exams…She is not a criminal". HC directed Pune police to ensure that the student is released by evening by communicating its order over the phone to the jail authority.Expressing its distress in open court at the actions of Pune police and Sinhgad Academy of Engineering for rusticating the student, who is pursuing Bachelor of Engineering in IT, HC agreed with the teenager's lawyer Farhana Shah's plea to permit her to take the remaining three papers, one of which is on Thursday.In its written order, HC suspended the rustication saying, "The order of rustication completely ignores the act of the applicant in deleting the post, expressing remorse, and tendering an apology.''The FIR against the student invoked grave offences under the BNS, 2023, including Section 152 that criminalises actions that threaten the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India. It punishes individuals who, through words, signs, or other forms of communication, incite secession, armed rebellion, or subversive activities, or encourage feelings of separatism. The FIR, HC noted, was registered by a police constable who claimed to be patrolling the area concerned that day. The FIR alleged she shared a post on May 7 over the armed hostilities which "allegedly caused tension between the two different religions and is likely to adversely affect public peace''.On May 16, the student was denied bail by a Pune magistrate. Her challenge before the sessions court was pending and the hearing scheduled on Wednesday, said Shah, who said she hence filed a civil petition to challenge the student's "arbitrary and unlawful" rustication by the college. During the hearing, HC said, "What does the state want?... This (the arrest) is the radical reaction from the state which will radicalise people." It asked the student's lawyer to file a criminal petition to enable it to grant her bail.