The Bombay High Court on Tuesday criticised the Maharashtra government for arresting a Pune student for an allegedly objectionable social media post about Operation Sindoor, PTI reported.

A division bench of Justices Gauri Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan directed the student’s counsel to file a bail petition, adding that it would be granted immediately.

The bench also criticised the 19-year-old’s college for rusticating her for the social media post, saying that educational institutes need to help students rather than turn them into criminals, Live Law reported.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the engineering student challenging her rustication.

The bench said that the student had already faced the consequences after being rusticated by the college and that she must be released.

The 19-year-old is a second-year information technology student at Sinhgad Academy of Engineering, a private unaided college affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University.

On May 7, she had allegedly reposted material on Instagram from an account that criticised the Indian government, PTI reported. The post was related to military tensions between India and Pakistan after Operation Sindoor, according to Live Law.

After receiving threats online, she had deleted the post and apologised.

However, following protests against her post, she was arrested on May 9, according to PTI. She was rusticated by the college on the same day.

In its rustication letter, the Sinhgad Academy of Engineering claimed that the action was justified as the student had brought disrepute to the institution. She had anti-national sentiments and posed a risk to the campus community and society, PTI quoted the institute as having alleged.

The student had challenged her rustication in the court, terming it a gross violation of her fundamental rights, PTI reported.

In her petition, she urged the court to quash the rustication and allow her to appear for examinations that were scheduled to begin on May 24.

During the hearing on Tuesday, Justice Godse verbally questioned the action taken by the college.

“You are ruining the life of a student?” Live Law quoted Godse as having asked the counsel representing the college. “What kind of conduct this is? Somebody expresses something you want to ruin the life of the student? How can you rusticate? Did you call upon an explanation?”

Godse asked if the purpose of an educational institute was “only to educate academically”.

She said that the college cannot stop the student from appearing for the examinations. “Let her appear for the remaining three papers,” Godse said.

Additional Government Pleader Priyabhushan Kakade, appearing for the state government, alleged that the girl’s social media post was against the national interest, PTI reported.

The court responded that the national interest would not be hurt by a post by a student who had realised her mistake and apologised.