Supreme Court asks BJP activist #PriyankaSharma to apologise for sharing a meme

Last week, Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha activist Priyanka Sharma was arrested for sharing a meme that had West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s face superimposed on Priyanka Chopra’s picture from the Met Gala. The Supreme Court today heard her case. The Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna ordered for Sharma’s immediate release. However, it stated that Sharma will have to tender an apology once she’s released. Bar and Bench notes that the release on bail for Sharma was initially made subject to her tendering an apology. However, the Court later modified its order and Sharma will now have to tender an apology upon her release.

The fact that the SC directed her to apologise for merely sharing a meme sets a worrisome precedence. Senior Counsel Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Sharma, said: “It concerns me that she is being made to apologise for this. Anyone else tomorrow will be told that you will be arrested for memes and you will have to apologise for bail.” The Court clarified that it was not correlating the two aspects of apology and release, however, Justice Banerjee stated that Freedom of Expression cannot impinge upon another person’s rights.