Congress leader and Member of Parliament Karti P. Chidambaram has condemned the arrest of law student and Instagram influencer Sharmishta Panoli by the Kolkata Police, calling it a “blatant misuse of police powers”.
Raising concerns over the increasing trend of interstate arrests for social media content, the Congress MP stated that such actions are unjustified unless they pose a clear and imminent threat to public order.
“These interstate arrests for social media posts (unless it’s clearly demonstrated that it has led to a law & order situation) is blatantly a misuse of police powers,” Karti posted on social media platform, ‘X’.
Sharmishta Panoli was arrested on May 30 by Kolkata Police from Gurugram, following the circulation of a video in which she allegedly criticised Bollywood actors for remaining silent on “Operation Sindoor”.
The video, which gained significant traction on Instagram, sparked online outrage, with users flooding her profile with trolling comments and threats.
Although Panoli deleted the post and issued a public apology, the Kolkata Police registered a complaint and issued legal notices to her and her family.
She was subsequently taken into custody and transported to Kolkata on a transit remand.
On May 31, Panoli was produced before the Alipore Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.
While the police sought her custody, the court denied the request and instead remanded her to judicial custody until June 13. As she was escorted away from the court premises, Panoli expressed her anguish over the arrest, saying, “The harassment you have done being in a democracy, this is not what democracy is.”
The incident has triggered a fresh debate over freedom of expression, digital speech, and the use of police powers in cases involving social media content.
Civil rights advocates and opposition leaders have voiced concerns over what they perceive as an increasingly punitive approach toward online dissent.
