19-year-old student released from Yerwada jail after Bombay HC bail order

A 19yearold student from Pune arrested over a social media post concerning the IndiaPakistan tensions has been released from jail after the Bombay High Court HC granted her bail while rebuking the Maharashtra government for ruining her life and turning her into a hardcore criminalThe woman was released from the Yerwada Central Jail on Tuesday night following the HCs order as per her lawyerAccording to PTI in a strong rebuke to both the state and her educational institution the court on Tuesday also suspended the girls rustication order issued by Sinhgad Academy of EngineeringThe student traces her roots to Jammu and Kashmir and had moved to Pune in 2023 to pursue a Bachelor of Engineering Information Technology degree from Sinhgad Technical Education SocietyOn May 7 she shared a post on Instagram from an account called Reformistan which criticised the Indian government during the IndiaPakistan tensions following Operation SindoorHowever within two hours she deleted the post after receiving a barrage of threatsDespite this the Kondhwa Police in Pune registered a First Information Report FIR against her on May 9 and she was arrested The student was later sent to judicial custody and lodged at Yerwada prisonShe then approached the HC through her lawyer Farhana Shah challenging the rustication order and sought quashing of the FIR along with bailFollowing her plea on Tuesday the HC came down heavily on the government for its absolutely shocking and radical response to the students social media postThe court immediately ordered that the woman be released so that she could appear for her ongoing semester examsPursuant to the court order she was released from jail around 930 pm on Tuesday Shah said Her family was present outside the jail at the time of her release the lawyer addedMeanwhile the court directed the educational institution to provide the woman with a hall ticket so she could appear for the examsHC stated that the college shall if necessary provide security and arrange a separate class for her to appear for the examsThe court also asked the police to ensure that the woman is given adequate protection when she goes to college as she has expressed fear reported PTIShah said the girl would go to the college on Wednesday to collect her hall ticket and complete other formalities so she can appear for the remainder of her exams scheduled from ThursdayDue to her arrest the student missed two papers the lawyer said She had sought a direction from the HC to the college to allow her to take the two missed papers as a special caseHowever following the court order the college stated it could not make that decision as the examinations were conducted by a Punebased universityThe court then permitted the girl to file an application seeking such permission from the universityAccording to PTI in its May 9 rustication letter the college stated that since the girl had brought disrepute to the institution it was justified in acting to preserve the institutions ethosIt further claimed the petitioner had antinational sentiments and posed a risk to the campus community and societyThe HC however questioned the college for its hurried decision to rusticate the student and said its approach should have been to reform her not to punish her reported PTIThe court remarked that her arrest should not have occurred especially since she had promptly deleted the post expressed remorse and apologisedWhile cautioning the student to act responsibly in the future and refrain from uploading such posts the High Court made its sternest remarks regarding the statersquos handling of the situationWith inputs from PTIatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params