BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra Condemns Sharmishta Panoli's Arrest By Bengal Police, Calls For Her Immediate Release
Anmol Kaur Bawa
1 Jun 2025 10:04 PM IST
Bar Council of India Chairperson & BJP Rajya Sabha MP Manan Kumar Mishra, Senior Advocate, has issued a statement condemning the arrest of law student Sharmishta Panoli by the Kolkata Police in a case over allegedly hurting religious sentiments in a social media post.The statement stressed that Panoli was arbitrarily being subjected to harsh legal consequences. He expressed :“Mere...
Bar Council of India Chairperson & BJP Rajya Sabha MP Manan Kumar Mishra, Senior Advocate, has issued a statement condemning the arrest of law student Sharmishta Panoli by the Kolkata Police in a case over allegedly hurting religious sentiments in a social media post.
The statement stressed that Panoli was arbitrarily being subjected to harsh legal consequences. He expressed :
“Mere wrong choice of words cannot be attributed a blasphemous character. It is unconscionable that a young law student is made a scapegoat and subjected to harsh legal action, while past atrocities on particular communities by government- sponsored persons and entities remain unaddressed. True democracy demands impartiality, restraint, and the equal protection of rights, not selective outrage and vendetta.”
“I call upon the Bengal government and its police to abandon this dangerous path of targeting select voices and to uphold the rule of law for all. I demand Sharmistha's immediate release, a fair trial, and an end to the double standards that have long plagued the state's administration of justice.”
The statement further said that since Panoli has already issued an apology after her offensive video, the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression cannot be overlooked by the West Bengal Government. It was stated that the state government has acted in excess and was 'politically:
“I stand firmly with Sharmishta Panoli, whose arrest and judicial custody for a now- deleted social media video-despite her immediate apology-represents an absolute failure of justice and a blatant assault on freedom of expression. The Bengal government and Kolkata Police have once again proved their pattern of excessive, selective, and politically motivated action, targeting individuals from particular communities while ignoring or even shielding far more egregious acts by others.”
On May 31, a court in Kolkata's Alipore area has remanded 19 year old law student and Instagram influencer to 14 days judicial custody in a case over allegedly hurting religious sentiments through social media posts made in the wake of Operation Sindoor.
While denying the state's request for police custody, the court remanded the student to judicial custody after she was brought to Kolkata in connection with the video.
After receiving backlash for the viral video, Panoli deleted it and published an apology on social media platform 'X', but was arrested in Gurugram and brought to Kolkata on transit remand after a formal complaint was filed.