GG News Bureau
Kolkata, 5th June: The Calcutta High Court has granted interim bail to 22-year-old social media influencer Sharmishta Panoli, who was arrested over a communally sensitive video linked to Operation Sindoor, India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Panoli, a resident of Kolkata, was arrested on May 31 from Gurugram, over two weeks after she posted a controversial video on Instagram reacting to questions surrounding India’s counter-terror operation. The video sparked outrage and led to her arrest under charges related to promoting enmity and hurting religious sentiments.
Her arrest triggered political backlash, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies slamming the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, accusing it of stifling free speech.
The case took a dramatic turn on Wednesday after the Kolkata Police filed an FIR against Wajahat Khan Qadri, the complainant who had initially flagged Panoli’s video. Qadri is now accused of hurting religious sentiments through his own social media content. He is reportedly absconding, and an Assam Police team, which had earlier filed a similar hate speech case against him, has arrived in Kolkata with an arrest warrant. He was not found at his residence during a police visit.
Qadri, who is now facing multiple cases across different states, had accused Panoli of spreading communal hatred. However, as investigations expanded, his own online activities came under scrutiny.
Panoli’s arrest sparked international commentary, with Geert Wilders, a Dutch MP and leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom, criticising her detention as a “disgrace for freedom of speech” and calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene.
Panoli had been in judicial custody for 14 days after being produced in court. Her interim bail brings temporary relief amid a case that continues to draw national and international attention at the intersection of free speech, communal sensitivity, and digital activism.
The next hearing in the matter is expected later this month.
