Influencer Sharmistha Panoli arrested over a communal post; court remands 14 days of judicial custody

New Delhi(India) June 1: On Friday, Instagram influencer Sharmishta Panoli was taken into custody for making a controversial communal statement related to Operation Sindoor. She was brought before the Alipore Court in Kolkata a few hours after her arrest and was put under 14 days of judicial custody.

On May 14, 2025 after a Pakistani social media user questioned India's position after the Pahalgam terror attack, she responded with a video. She slammed Bollywood stars in the video for being quiet about Operation Sindoor, a major military action in response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

Panoli's video quickly fell into controversy despite its original aim was to gain a political response. According to viewers, she made disrespectful comments regarding Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. She allegedly got death threats and rape threats, severe backlash and hashtags like #ArrestSharmistha started trending. The problem had already escalated legally even after the post was removed and an apology was made the next day.

She posted an apology on social media on 15 May by saying that, “I do hereby tender my UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY. Whatever was put are my personal feelings and I never intentionally wanted to hurt anybody. So anybody is hurt, I'm sorry… Henceforth, I will be cautious in my public posts.”

As per police, FIR were filed under Section 196(1)(a) for encouraging enmity between various groups based on caste, religion, race, place of birth, domicile, language, or community, 353(1)(c) (statements that promote public mischief), 299 (malicious and deliberate acts intended to attack religious emotions of any class of people), and 352 (intentional insult with intent to create a breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The Kolkata Police has said, "The case relates to an Instagram video by a lady named Sharmishta Panoli that hurt the religious sentiments of a particular community. FIR was lodged at Garden Reach Police Station. Attempts to serve notice as per law couldn't be successful since the accused, with her family, absconded. Subsequently, a warrant of arrest was issued by the court of law, based on which she was arrested from Gurgaon yesterday." regarding the case.

According to Md. Samimuddin, Sharmishta Panoli's lawyer, they have submitted her bail application to the court.

Mohammad Shamimuddin has also questioned the validity of her arrest by saying that filing several FIRs for the same offence is against Supreme Court rules. He also added that Section 35(3) of the BNSS was broken because no notice was given before the arrest.

The Alipore Court has placed her under judicial custody until June 13, 2025, after rejecting both police custody and bail.

Aadrika Tayal