HC rebukes Maharashtra govt for college student's arrest for post on Indo-Pak conflict
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Maharashtra government for arresting a 19-year-old student from Pune for her social media post on Indo-Pak hostilities, calling its reaction "radical".
A vacation bench of Justices Gauri Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan asked the teen's lawyer to immediately file a bail plea, which it said it would grant today itself.
The bench said such a "radical" reaction from the state government was unwarranted and has turned a student into a criminal.
The student from Pune was arrested earlier this month for her social media post on Indo-Pak hostilities amid Operation Sindoor.
The girl, who is presently in judicial custody, moved the high court challenging a decision by her college to rusticate her.
"The girl has posted something and then realised her mistake and apologised. Instead of giving her a chance to reform, the state government has arrested her and turned her into a criminal," the bench remarked.
The court questioned the conduct of the government and the college.
"Someone is expressing their opinion, and this is how you ruin her life? A student's life has been ruined," it said.
Additional government pleader P P Kakade said the girl's post was against the national interest. The court, however, said national interest would not suffer because of a post uploaded by a student who has realised her mistake and apologised.
"How can the state arrest a student like this? Does the state want students to stop expressing their opinions? Such a radical reaction from the state will further radicalise the person," the court said. The bench also rapped the college for rusticating the girl, saying that an educational institution's approach should be to reform, not punish.
The job of an educational institution is to not just impart academic education but also to help students reform, the court said, adding that the college ought to have given the girl an opportunity to explain.
"Instead of reforming her and making her understand, you have turned her into a criminal. You want the student to turn into a criminal?" the court said.
It said the girl is at an age where mistakes are bound to happen.
The bench noted that the girl had suffered enough and asked her advocate, Farhana Shah, to immediately file a petition seeking bail. The court said it would order for the girl to be released immediately so that she could appear for her exams.
The teen, in her plea, stated that the college's decision was arbitrary and a gross violation of her fundamental rights.
She requested the High Court to quash the rustication, order her reinstatement, and allow her to appear for the semester exams scheduled to begin on May 24.
The second-year student of Information Technology contended that the rustication order passed by the Sinhgad Academy of Engineering — a private unaided college affiliated with the Savitribai Phule Pune University — was "arbitrary and unlawful".
The petitioner claimed she had reposted the social media post without ill intent and immediately apologised.
On May 7, the girl reposted a post on Instagram from an account called 'Reformistan', which criticised the Indian government for provoking a war against Pakistan.
Within two hours, she realised her mistake and deleted the post after receiving a barrage of threats.
In its May 9 rustication letter, the college stated that since the girl had brought disrepute to the institution, it was justified to preserve the institution's ethos. It further said that the petitioner had anti-national sentiments and posed a risk to the campus community and society.
The girl had to be escorted out of college due to protests against her, and she was arrested the same day by the Kondhwa police after an FIR was registered against her.
She is currently lodged in the Yerwada Prison in Pune in judicial custody, and a local court rejected her bail plea.
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
