Bombay HC Refuses to Quash FIR Against Pune Engineering Student Over Operation Sindoor Post

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Pune: The Bombay High Court on Friday declined to quash an FIR filed against a 19-year-old engineering student in Pune for reposting a controversial social media post related to Operation Sindoor, emphasizing that being a bright student cannot be a reason to dismiss criminal proceedings.

The FIR, registered on May 9 by Kondhwa Police Station, stemmed from the student, a fourth-semester engineering student at Sinhagad Academy of Engineering, sharing a post on Instagram shortly after information about Operation Sindoor became public. The student deleted the post within two hours and issued an apology, claiming she had no intention of creating a law-and-order problem.

Represented by Advocate Farhana Shah, the student filed a plea seeking the quashing of the FIR. Advocate Amin Solkar argued that she had expressed regret, removed the post, and had excelled in her recent exams.

However, the bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam A Ankhad stated: “This is a very serious matter… If at all you are a child studying, this can only be considered for bail… but we cannot quash it. Being a bright child cannot be a ground to quash the FIR.” When Solkar argued there was no mens rea on the part of his client, the court responded that “mens rea is irrelevant.”

The court requested a police report from Kondhwa Police Station and directed Public Prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh to submit the case diary in a sealed cover. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on October 3.

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