Calcutta HC grants interim bail to influencer Sharmistha Panoli

New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted interim bail to social media influencer Sharmishtha Panoli Raj, arrested by the Kolkata police for her 'offensive' remarks on Muslims in light of Operation Sindoor.

The police had maintained that her now-deleted video had “derogatory and disrespectful” comments against a minority community.

The bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury ordered that she be enlarged on bail bond and security of Rs 10,000, and directed her to cooperate with the investigation into the case.

The court also directed her not to leave the country without its permission.

The high court further directed the police to provide protection to Panoli, as she complained of having received threats following her social media post.

At the earlier hearing, the court had denied interim bail to Panoli and advised her that freedom of speech doesn't mean that she could hurt the religious feelings of others.

Panoli, a student at Symbiosis Law School, had allegedly posted blasphemous remarks against Prophet Mohammad on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

Panoli, after receiving backlash over the statements, deleted the blasphemous content and published an apology on the social media platform 'X', but was arrested in Gurugram.

An FIR was registered against her on May 15, 2025 and warrants were issued just two days later on May 17, 2025.

In her plea, Panoli also challenged the remand order passed by the Trial Court, in which she was remanded to 14 days in judicial custody.