Student Or Criminal? Bombay HC Questions Maharashtra Police Over Arrest Of Pune Engineering Student

It took the sagacity and legal force of the Bombay High Court to restore the dignity and academic life of a 19-year-old engineering student and make the Pune police see the absence of reason in arresting and jailing her.

The second-year student of Sinhgad Academy of Engineering near Pune found herself lodged in Yerawada Jail facing an FIR over an insignificant issue, raising questions about the priorities of the state police that did not file an FIR for the heinous murder of the sarpanch of Massajog village for weeks.

She was in the dock for sharing a lightly critical post on her Instagram account on May 7 about the India-Pakistan war, which she deleted within two hours and apologised for. She was also rusticated from the college and, therefore, prevented from appearing for semester exams at the end of the month.

A vacation bench of Justices Gauri V. Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan, while passing orders on her two pleas, a criminal one to quash the FIR and interim release and a civil writ challenging her “arbitrary” rustication, pulled up the state authorities, ordered her immediate release from the jail and revocation of her rustication.

These actions, the court said, were “absolutely shocking”. In doing so, the judges drew attention to what over-zealousness in the system can do to anyone but especially to the life of a young adult engaging with public issues of the day.

“It appears that police officers and college are bent upon ruining her life,” the judges stated while pointing out that the FIR was filed despite the post being deleted and her apology. She is not a criminal, they had to remind the authorities.

The haste to ensure that there is no criticism or questioning of any act of the government of the day has gradually taken hold in our public sphere; it has been at its sharpest since the terror attack at Pahalgam and the government’s limited strike across the border.

On television or other commentary, in social media discussions and WhatsApp chats, in public areas and elsewhere, the pressure has been enormous on people to hold their silence. Even so, criminal action on a 19-year-old sends damaging signals to the young—do not engage, do not question.

In an age where the young are increasingly showing disengagement and an absence of critical thinking, this cannot augur well for our society. The famous sociologist Jurgen Habermas’ concept of a public sphere in a democracy was a space where citizens could freely discuss matters of general interest, form public opinions, and influence political decision-making. That ideal public sphere has been shrinking; actions like that of the Pune Police will ensure its erasure.