Sharmistha Panoli row: Kolkata Police justifies arrest of influencer, says they 'acted lawfully'

With the row over Instagram influencer Sharmistha Panoli's arrest gaining momentum on social media, Kolkata police on Sunday stated that they have acted lawfully according to the procedure established by law.

The Kolkata Police took to social media to clarify their stance and said that legal actions were taken against Panoli for sharing offensive content which promotes hatred among the communities.

Apart from this, the Kolkata Police also requested the people to act responsibly, and called the narrative by few social media users as mischievous and misleading.

Justifying the arrest, Kolkata Police stated, “It's again reiterated that in the instant incident, a case was registered against the accused at Gardenreach PS on 15.05.24 on the basis of allegations that she posted a video which was insulting to the religious belief of a class of citizen of India and amounted to promoting disharmony and hatred between different communities. The case was registered under appropriate section of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita. The case was duly investigated and adhering to legal procedures, several attempts were made to serve notice u/s 35 of BNSS to the accused but everytime she was found absconding. Consequently a warrant of arrest was issued by the competent Court, following which she was apprehended lawfully from Gurgaon during day time. She was thereafter produced before the appropriate Magistrate and was granted transit remand as per due process of law. Later the Court sent her to judicial custody.”

On hate speech:

Reacting to the hate speech, the Kolkata Police cited that the hate speech and abusive language should not be misconstrued as freedom of speech & expression as enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

“Hate speech targeting any religious figure or community or any class of citizens of India which has potential to incite disharmony and hatred between different communities is a punishable offence in the newly implemented Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita. Hate speech & abusive language should not be misconstrued as freedom of speech & expression as enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.”

"At the time when the whole country stood united and our brave citizens were fighting at the frontier, posting such content on social media which is insulting and demeaning to any class of citizens of India is most abominable act. Any such act will only benefit our enemies."

Acted lawfully:

The Kolkata Police in its statement said they acted lawfully according to the procedure established by law. "The accused was not arrested for expressing patriotism or for personal belief; legal actions were taken for sharing offensive content which promotes hatred among the communities," the police said.

About Sharmishta's arrest:

Instagram influencer Sharmishta Panoli was arrested by Kolkata Police from Gurugram in Haryana for allegedly sharing a communal video which triggered significant outrage online.

She in the video allegedly criticised Bollywood celebrities for staying silent on “Operation Sindoor.” After intense trolling and threats in the comments, Panoli removed the video and issued a public apology on 15 May.

However, an FIR had already been registered in Kolkata. Police said multiple attempts were made to serve legal notices to Panoli and her family. She was later arrested and then Alipore court in Kolkata sent her to 14-day judicial custody.

Police sources confirmed that Panoli has been booked under sections 196(1)(a) (promoting enmity between groups based on religion or community), 299 (acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), and 353(1)(c) (inciting public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

With agency inputs.