The Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed a FIR against a 20-year-old engineering student who was arrested in May last year for re-posting controversial posts on Operation Sindoor, India's military action in response to the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack.
A single-judge bench of Justice Milind Jadhav observed that she is “a young engineering student”, while allowing her plea. The court also said that the student's role was limited to re-posting and noted that she has already suffered custody.
"The post is undoubtedly contentious, arousing passion and hatred. However, the applicant's (student) role is confined to re-posting the said post which was already available on the social media platform," the court said, as per news agency PTI.
She had re-posted social media messages that purportedly ended with the phrase “Pakistan Zindabad” at a time when India and the border nation were in the middle of a military conflict.
The court reportedly took note of the post pertaining to religious sentiments and advised sensitivity and responsibility. "At first glance, it is seen that the contents of the post may have had the potential to create apprehension of disturbance between religious communities, however, the mere possibility that a publication may cause displeasure or resentment cannot, by itself, constitute sufficient ground for criminal prosecution," the order said.
The court also observed that the post was deleted within two hours and that the student had apologised.
Student claims ‘public humiliation, casteist abuse’ over reposting
The student, represented by advocate Farhana Shah, had challenged the college’s May 9, 2025 decision to rusticate her, calling it “arbitrary and unlawful”.
She was subsequently arrested, remanded to judicial custody, and denied bail by a Pune magistrate. The Bombay High Court had later granted her bail on May 25, 2025.
The student argued that she re-posted a message on Instagram from a user, and claimed she faced public outrage and abuse both on and off campus due to the outrage.
Though she deleted the post and issued an apology, the college proceeded with her expulsion, alleging that her actions were “anti-national” and posed a threat to campus harmony, her petition alleged.
The petition stated that, despite her re-posting the message without any ill intent, she had to face "public humiliation, casteist abuse, and was branded with derogatory and communal terms" both within and outside the college campus.
“Although she deleted the post following the controversy, she was rusticated from the college, which claimed she had anti-national sentiments and posed a risk to the campus community and society,” it added.
(With PTI inputs).