After BCI Bar Council Of Delhi Condemns Arrest Of Law Student Sharmistha Panoli, Calls It Politically Motivated
BCD Chairman Surya Prakash Khatri slammed Kolkata Police for “high-handedness” and called the arrest a selective, excessive action done at the behest of West Bengal Government.
Following the strong statement issued by the Bar Council of India condemning the arrest of law student Sharmistha Panoli, the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) has now also come out in her support, terming the arrest “selective, excessive, and politically motivated,” and demanding her immediate release.
In a press release dated June 2, 2025, Surya Prakash Khatri, Chairman of the Bar Council of Delhi and Member of the Legislative Assembly, Government of NCT of Delhi, said, “The Bar Council of Delhi strongly condemns the arrest of Ms. Sharmistha Panoli, a 22-year-old law student, by the West Bengal Police, over a social media video, despite the fact that she immediately deleted it and apologized, when some people found it hurtful.”
Calling out the conduct of the Kolkata Police, the press note added, “The high-handedness and unnecessary haste shown by the Kolkata Police in arresting Ms. Sharmistha Panoli, as if she was a criminal, shows the selective, excessive and politically motivated action of Kolkata Police, which no doubt, [was] done at the behest of West Bengal Government.”
The Council also pointed to a larger pattern of lawlessness and politically backed violence in the state, stating, “We witness every day, the violence, atrocities and brutalities perpetrated by the groups in West Bengal supported by the West Bengal Government, and there is rampant lawlessness with the active support of police.”
Demanding her release, the Chairman said, “I, on behalf of Bar Council of Delhi, demand the immediate release of Ms. Sharmishtha Panoli, to uphold the scale of justice.”
This comes a day after Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman of the Bar Council of India, issued a press statement describing Panoli’s arrest as a “blatant assault on freedom of expression” and a reflection of “selective, politically motivated action and suppression of dissent in West Bengal.”
Panoli, a law student, was arrested late on May 30 by Kolkata Police from Gurugram, Haryana, in connection with a now-deleted video that allegedly hurt religious sentiments. Despite her apology and removal of the content, she was taken into custody and remanded to judicial custody, prompting sharp criticism from legal bodies across the country.
