Bombay High Court Quashes FIR Against Pune Engineering Student For Reposting Critical Post On 'Operation Sindoor'

Single-judge Justice Milind Jadhav said, "Noting the fact that the petitioner is a young engineering student, I have allowed her plea."

The student from Pune's Sinhgad Academy of Engineering—an unaided private college affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University, was arrested on May 9, 2025, over a controversial Instagram repost related to Indo-Pak tensions following Operation Sindoor. She had challenged her 'rustication' from the institute for her allegedly objectionable posts arguing that the said action was "arbitrary and unlawful." She had also sought to quash the FIR.

In May 2025 summer vacations, this action was highly criticised by a bench of Justice Gauri Godse and Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan which had ordered the Pune Police to immediately release the girl and the college was asked to permit her to appear for her pending exams.

According to the petitioner, she had reposted a post from the Instagram handle 'Reformistan' on May 7, which was very critical about the the Indian government's role in escalating tensions with Pakistan. She, however, deleted the said post within two hours and later issued a public apology following the death threats that she received.

Even as the petitioner apologised for her post, she was arrested on May 7 itself after protests broke out in the institute. She was arrested by the Kondhwa Police Station in Pune. She was rusticated by the college on May 6 citing her social media posts, which the institute claimed brought 'disrepute' and indicated that she harboured "anti-national sentiments", posing a "risk to the campus community and society."

Adv Farhana Shah appeared for the petitioner.