Deleting post over Operation Sindoor, apology not enough to quash case against 19-year-old: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court on Friday, September 20, stated that case against a 19-year-old student cannot be quashed just because she has deleted a social media post on Operation Sindoor and apologised for it.

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad observed that the FIR against the accused cannot be quashed merely because she is a “bright student” who has cleared her exams with “flying colours.”

The Bombay High Court was hearing a petition filed by the Pune collegian seeking to quash the FIR lodged against her in May for her social media post on Indo-Pak hostilities amid Operation Sindoor.

The girl was arrested but was later released on bail from the high court.

During the hearing on Friday, the student's advocate informed the court that the girl had appeared for her exams and also secured good marks. The court, however, said that obtaining good marks cannot be ground for having an FIR quashed.

The student’s lawyer argued that she had no malicious intent in making the post, which she promptly deleted and for which she apologised. The court, however, noted that deletion [of the post] in fact aggravates and complicates the case.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks while directing public prosecutor Mankhuwar Deshmukh to submit the case diary. On May 7, the girl had reposted a post on Instagram from an account called 'Reformistan', which criticised the Indian government for provoking a war against Pakistan.

Within two hours, the girl realised her mistake and deleted the post after receiving a barrage of threats. Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7 to avenge the horrific April 22 Pahalgam attack, saw decimation of terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Hostilities between India and Pakistan ended on May 10.

(With agency inputs)