The Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed a First Information Report (FIR) registered against a 20-year-old engineering student arrested in May 2025 for reposting controversial social media content during ‘Operation Sindoor’—India’s counter-terror strike on Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. The court ruled that a “youthful error of judgment cannot automatically be equated with a deliberate criminal act” without material evidence establishing criminal intent.
A single-judge bench of Justice Milind Jadhav highlighted the absence of any ensuing public disorder, the student’s immediate deletion of the post, her tendered apology, and the lack of statutory ingredients required for the alleged offenses, noting that the prosecution lacked a sufficient factual foundation.
The controversy originated when the Pune-based student reposted an Instagram message questioning Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam attack on Indian tourists and criticizing military escalation between nuclear-armed neighbors. The shared message also featured the phrase “Pakistan Zindabad.” Following the post, the student was rusticated by her college, arrested by the local police, remanded to judicial custody, and initially denied bail by a Pune magistrate before the High Court granted her bail on May 25, 2025.
Represented by advocate Farhana Shah, the student challenged the criminal charges and college rustication as arbitrary. Additional Public Prosecutor Amit Palkar argued that the shared content had the potential to hurt public and religious sentiments.
However, the High Court observed that while religious and national sensitivity is paramount, there was no evidence establishing that the student’s actions were deliberate attempts to outrage religious feelings or act prejudicial to national integration.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Jadhav acknowledged the personal toll the legal proceedings had taken on the young petitioner, remarking, “The applicant has already suffered custody. That, in itself, for a young student, is a scar which cannot be erased easily.” Stay tuned to know more about it and others only with us.
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