The Bombay High Court ruled that deleting a social media post and apologising cannot be grounds to quash the FIR against a 19-year-old Pune student. The court emphasised that her academic success does not affect the ongoing legal proceedings.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday made it clear that a 19-year-old student cannot get her case quashed just because she deleted a social media post and apologised for it. The FIR against her, lodged in May for her post regarding Operation Sindoor, cannot be dismissed on the grounds of a simple apology.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad observed that being a
“bright student” and scoring well in exams is not enough reason to quash the FIR. The court stated, “just because the accused is a ‘bright student’ and has passed her exams with ‘flying colours’ does not mean the FIR lodged against her can be quashed.”
The case involves a Pune college student who reposted content on Instagram from an account called ‘Reformistan’, which criticised the Indian government for allegedly provoking a war against Pakistan.
The post was made on May 7, during the tense period of Operation Sindoor, which had been launched on the same day to avenge the brutal April 22 Pahalgam attack. The operation targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Hostilities between India and Pakistan ended on May 10.
The student was arrested following the post but was later released on bail by the High Court. On Friday, her lawyer informed the court that the student had appeared for her examinations after getting bail and had achieved good marks.
However, the bench clarified that academic success and good performance alone cannot be considered a ground to quash the FIR, emphasizing that the legal process must continue.
Her lawyer also told the court that the student had no ill intentions behind sharing the post and had deleted it immediately while apologising.
ALSO READ: Supreme Court Halts Relocation of David Yale–Joseph Hynmers Tomb at Madras High Court
Despite this, the court pointed out,
“deletion (of the post) in fact aggravates and complicates the case.”
The bench directed the public prosecutor, Mankhuwar Deshmukh, to submit the case diary and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.
Click Here To Read More Reports on Op Sindoor
