Rush Hour: HC raps Maharashtra for student’s arrest over online post, Maoist commander killed & more

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The Bombay High Court has criticised the Maharashtra government for arresting a Pune student after she shared an allegedly objectionable social media post about Operation Sindoor. The bench directed the student’s counsel to file a bail petition and stated that it would be granted immediately.

The bench also criticised the college where the 19-year-old was studying for rusticating her, saying that educational institutes need to help students rather than turn them into criminals.

On May 7, she allegedly reposted material on Instagram from an account that had criticised the Indian government. After receiving threats online, she deleted the post and apologised. However, following protests against her post, she was arrested on May 9. The college rusticated her on the same day.

The government alleged that the girl’s post was against the national interest. But the court said that the national interest would not be hurt by a post by a student who had realised her mistake and apologised. Read on.

Tulsi Bhuinya, a commander of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand’s Palamu district on Tuesday....

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