The Bombay High Court on Tuesday slammed the Maharashtra government and Pune’s Sinhgad Academy of Engineering for their actions against a second-year female engineering student, who was rusticated and arrested over a social media post related to Operation Sindoor.
The student, studying at the private college affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University, was rusticated and arrested on May 9 after an FIR was lodged at Kondhwa police station. She has been lodged in Pune's Yerwada prison since then.
A vacation bench comprising Justices Gauri Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan instructed the student’s counsel to file a bail application without delay, assuring that it would be considered and granted on the same day. “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," PTI quoted the bench saying.
The court made the remarks while hearing the student’s plea challenging her rustication. “Someone is expressing their opinion, and this is how you ruin her life? A student’s life has been ruined," it said.
The court observed that their role goes beyond academics, encompassing the responsibility to guide students toward personal development, and noted that the girl deserved an opportunity to present her side of the story.
The student from Pune’s Sinhgad Academy of Engineering was arrested on May 9, over a controversial Instagram repost related to India-Pakistan tensions after Operation Sindoor. She argued that her rustication from the institute over the social media post was “arbitrary and unlawful."
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