Overview

• The Calcutta High Court on June 5 granted interim bail to 22-year-old law student and influencer Sharmistha Panoli, who was arrested over a now-deleted communal video on Operation Sindoor.
• Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury imposed a ₹10,000 personal bond, required Panoli to cooperate with the ongoing investigation and barred her from leaving India without court permission.
• The bench ruled that the original complaint did not disclose a cognisable offence and ordered the consolidation of multiple FIRs from different states into a single case in Kolkata.
• The court instructed Kolkata Police to provide protection after Panoli reported receiving threats following her controversial social media post.
• Kolkata Police filed an FIR against accuser Wajahat Khan Qadri for allegedly posting inflammatory content; he remains absconding as authorities investigate both sets of complaints.