Fact Check: Viral Video Claiming Police Reprimand In Sharmistha Panoli’s Bail Hearing Is Misleading, Judge Shown Is From Patna, Not Calcutta High Court
The viral video showing a judge rebuking the police is not from Sharmistha Panoli’s bail hearing in the Calcutta High Court. It is an older clip from the Patna High Court involving Justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad. Sharing this video in connection with Panoli’s case is misleading and factually incorrect.
- By: Abhishek Parashar
- Published: Jun 12, 2025 at 04:12 PM
New Delhi (Vishvas News). After Sharmistha Panoli got bail from the Calcutta High Court, social media users are sharing a video clip claiming that this video is from her bail petition in the High Court, when the judge reprimanded the police for her arrest. In the viral video, a judge can be seen and heard reprimanding the police.
Vishvas News found this claim to be false in its investigation. The judge seen in the viral video is not a Calcutta High Court judge but Patna High Court judge Rajiv Ranjan Prasad. Sharmistha Panoli’s bail plea was heard in the Calcutta High Court and the vacation bench of Justice Raja Basu Choudhary heard this plea. Both the judges are different. Sharmistha Panoli’s plea was heard in the Calcutta High Court and not in the Patna High Court.
What is viral?
Social media user ‘Vipin Kumar Tiwari’ (Archive) shared the viral video and wrote, “The unruly police need this kind of reprimand. Also, the police commissioner or SP should be kept in jail for the same number of days as others are kept and the entire fee for fighting the case should be recovered from the state. They openly indulge in hooliganism.”
Investigation
The video is accompanied by a photo of Sharmistha Panoli in police custody, suggesting that the video was taken during Panoli’s bail hearing. “The vacation bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury of the Calcutta High Court, while hearing Sharmistha Panoli’s plea, granted her bail,” The Hindu reported on June 6, 2025.
Panoli was arrested on charges of hate speech. On the Calcutta High Court website, we found a photo of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, which does not match the judge seen in the viral video.
A reverse image search of the judge in the viral video led us to several older reports and video links identifying him as Justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad of the Patna High Court.
We found his profile on the Patna High Court website. Our investigation clearly shows that the judge seen in the viral video is Justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad of the Patna High Court and he has no connection with the hearing on Sharmistha Panoli’s bail plea, as Panoli’s bail plea was heard in the Calcutta High Court.
In the viral video clip, the judge can be seen and heard reprimanding the police for the arrest. On this basis, in a news search, we found many old videos in which the video of this proceeding of the Patna High Court can be seen.
Found on the ‘power of indian judiciary’ YouTube channel. According to the information given with the video uploaded on December 15 2022, the judge of Patna High Court reprimanded the Deputy Superintendent of Police for the haste in arresting the woman doctor and asked why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him?
The video of this action is also available on the ‘LEGAL LAW’ YouTube channel, which is dated December 13, 2022.
Regarding the viral video, we contacted our associate, Dainik Jagran’s Patna news editor Ashwini Kumar Singh. He confirmed, “The person seen in the viral video is Justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad of Patna High Court and this court proceeding is related to an old case.”
Panoli was arrested by Kolkata Police from Gurugram on May 30 for a controversial video allegedly promoting hate speech. She later deleted the video and issued an apology.
Despite this, her arrest drew widespread criticism, including from Karti P. Chidambaram, MP and son of senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram
In a twist, Wajahat Khan, who had filed the complaint against Panoli, was himself arrested by Kolkata Police on June 9 for inciting religious sentiments and failing to cooperate with the investigation.
The user who shared the viral video with the misleading claim is followed by around 6,000 people on Facebook..
Conclusion: The viral video showing a judge rebuking the police is not from Sharmistha Panoli’s bail hearing in the Calcutta High Court. It is an older clip from the Patna High Court involving Justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad. Sharing this video in connection with Panoli’s case is misleading and factually incorrect.
- Claim Review : Calcutta High Court judge reprimanded the police for arresting Sharmistha Panoli.
- Claimed By : Facebook User Vipin Kumar Tiwari
- Fact Check : Misleading
Know the truth! If you have any doubts about any information or a rumor, do let us know!
Knowing the truth is your right. If you feel any information is doubtful and it can impact the society or nation, send it to us by any of the sources mentioned below.
