Influencer Sharmishta Panoli walks out of jail after Calcutta High Court relief
A day after getting bail from the Calcutta High Court, 22-year-old influencer and law student Sharmishta Panoli, who was arrested in connection with the Operation Sindoor post case, walked out of jail on Friday.
As part of the bail conditions, she has been prohibited from leaving the country without prior permission from the Chief Judicial Magistrate.
She has also been instructed to deposit a sum of Rs 10,000.
The High Court has directed the Kolkata Police to act on a petition filed by Panoli regarding threats to her safety, which she had raised before her arrest.
#WATCH | Kolkata , West Bengal | Law student Sharmistha Panoli released from Alipore Women's Correctional Home. She got an Interim Bail from the Calcutta High Court yesterday.
— ANI (@ANI) June 6, 2025
She was arrested from Gurugram by Kolkata Police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through her… pic.twitter.com/6kh8mbNkuc
Panoli, a fourth-year law student from Pune, was arrested on May 30 in Gurugram after a now-deleted video allegedly hurting religious sentiments triggered widespread outrage.
A Kolkata court had earlier remanded her to judicial custody till June 13.
Her father, Prithviraj, previously refuted the Kolkata Police’s claim that she was absconding.
Speaking to India Today TV, he said both he and Sharmishta had gone to Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters, and also visited the Anandapur police station.
Despite this, the police labelled her an absconder and secured an arrest warrant.
He alleged that the Kolkata Police shared false and misleading information and presented two “visitor slips” bearing their names and photographs, reportedly issued at Lalbazar on May 15, to support his claim.
Although Panoli had deleted the video and issued an unconditional apology, multiple FIRs were filed against her.
The High Court later ordered that all the FIRs be merged into a single case, to be investigated in Kolkata.
The next hearing took place on Thursday, during which she was granted interim bail.
Notably, on Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court had earlier declined her bail request, remarking that freedom of speech is not absolute and does not entitle anyone to hurt religious sentiments.
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