New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday termed as “prima facie arbitrary” the arrest of BJP’s youth wing leader for allegedly posting morphed image of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on social media and pulled up the West Bengal government for the delay in releasing her.
A vacation bench comprising justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna was informed by the counsel of activist Priyanka Sharma’s brother that she was not released from jail on Tuesday despite the apex court’s order granting her bail and ordering her immediate release. However, the counsel for West Bengal government informed the bench that she has been released from jail at 9:40 am today.
“Why 9:40 am today? The order was passed in your presence,” the bench told the state counsel. When the state’s counsel referred to the jail manual, the bench shot back, “Jail manual can’t take precedence over an order of the Supreme Court.” “No. This is not done. First of all, the arrest was prima facie arbitrary,” the bench said.
Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for Priyanka’s brother Rajib Sharma, who had filed the plea in the apex court, told the bench that despite the apex court’s Tuesday order granting her bail she had to spend another night behind the bars. Kaul told the bench that jail authorities told them that they have to either bring certified copies of the apex court’s order or approach the court of the chief judicial magistrate concerned for her release.
BJP youth wing activist Priyanka Sharma, who walked out of jail on Wednesday, after being arrested for posting a morphed picture of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Facebook, said jail authorities had pressured her and extracted an apology for the post. Sharma, however, asserted she had no regrets for sharing the post for which she had to spend five days behind bars.
She claimed she was “mentally tortured” in jail and was not even given enough water to drink. Addressing a press conference after her release, Sharma defiantly said, “I don’t have any regrets. I have not done anything for which I will have to apologise.”
