‘You want to turn the student into a criminal?’: Bombay HC raps Maharashtra govt for 'radical' arrest of teen over social media post

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday strongly criticised the Maharashtra government and a Pune-based engineering college for what it described as a disproportionate response to a 19-year-old student’s social media post on Indo-Pak tensions.

Calling the arrest a “radical reaction,” the court said it would grant the student bail immediately and questioned whether such actions by the state were meant to deter young people from expressing their opinions.

A vacation bench of Justices Gauri Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan was hearing the plea of the second-year Information Technology student, who has been in judicial custody since early May after reposting content critical of India’s stance amid Operation Sindoor.


“The girl has posted something and then realised her mistake and apologised. Instead of giving her a chance to reform, the state government has arrested her and turned her into a criminal,” the bench remarked.

‘Such a radical reaction will further radicalise the student’: HC

During the hearing, the court repeatedly questioned both the state’s action and the college’s decision to rusticate the student. It pointedly asked whether this was the approach the government wanted to take with young citizens.

“How can the state arrest a student like this? Does the state want students to stop expressing their opinions? Such a radical reaction from the state will further radicalise the person,” the court said.

Additional government pleader P P Kakade argued that the student’s post was against the national interest, but the bench rejected the reasoning, stating:

“National interest would not suffer because of a post uploaded by a student who has realised her mistake and apologised.”

The court added that the student had “suffered enough” and instructed her lawyer, Farhana Shah, to immediately file for bail so she could appear for her semester examinations.

HC says approach should be to ‘reform, not punish’

The court did not spare the Sinhgad Academy of Engineering either, remarking that an educational institution should support reform and growth instead of resorting to punitive measures.

“Instead of reforming her and making her understand, you have turned her into a criminal. You want the student to turn into a criminal?” the court asked.

It further said: “The job of an educational institution is to not just impart academic education but also to help students reform.”

The court criticised the college for not giving the student an opportunity to explain her side before issuing the rustication order, which was dated May 9. The student claimed she had no intention of causing harm, had reposted the Instagram content without thinking, and deleted it within two hours after realising her error. She also received threats soon after, was escorted out of the college amid protests, and was arrested the same day by Kondhwa police.

Currently lodged in Pune’s Yerwada jail, the student had earlier been denied bail by a local court. In her petition to the High Court, she sought reinstatement and permission to appear for exams beginning May 24, calling the rustication “arbitrary and unlawful” and a violation of her fundamental rights.

“Someone is expressing their opinion, and this is how you ruin her life? A student's life has been ruined,” the court observed.

(With inputs from PTI)