Old video of Patna High Court judge reprimanding police falsely shared linking to Influencer Sharmistha Panoli’s case

This video is from a Patna High Court hearing held on 30 November 2022, unrelated to the Sharmistha Panoli case. 

Law student and influencer Sharmistha Panoli, who was arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through her comments on social media released from Alipore Women’s Correctional Home after she got an Interim Bail from the Calcutta High Court in Kolkata on 5 June, 2025. She was arrested by the Kolkata police and the Calcutta High Court granted her an Interim bail.

Against this backdrop, a video of a judge rebuking police is going viral on social media linking to Sharmishta Panoli’s case. In the viral video Judge can be heard saying, the judge is heard saying, “This uniform that has been given to you, is it just for the sake of exercising power? People are in jail for such minor things. The sections [criminal law code or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita] that you attach are also a matter of discussion. He questions the need for handcuffs and car confinement, and the impact on citizens.

Let’s check the truth

Facebook Post Archive link

Fact Check- 

We performed a reverse image search on the image on Google and the results led us to similar video uploaded on the Facebook page Briefly on 7 December, 2022. The post states that the video is going viral in which a Patna High Court judge strongly criticizes the misuse of power by Bihar police officers. We also identified the judge as Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad of the Patna High Court.

Using these hints, we conducted further searches and found the full video of this court proceeding on the official YouTube channel of the Patna High Court. Justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad addressed at the hearing on 30 November, 2022, criticising the Bihar Police for the unlawful arrest of a female doctor in Jamui. You can watch the viral video at the timestamp of 4:47 mark of this YouTube video.

Meanwhile, on 5 June, 2025 Calcutta High Court panel led by Justice Raja Basu Choudhury granted interim bail to influencer Sharmistha Panoli. We found no credible news reports that support up a claim that Justice Raja Basu Choudhury reprimanded police for arresting Sharmistha while granting her bail.

So, based on all these evidences, we can understand that the video is old and unrelated to the Sharmistha Panoli case. It actually shows Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad of the Patna High Court rebuking police officials in November 2022 for misuse of power.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral image to be False. This video is from a Patna High Court hearing held on 30 November 2022, unrelated to the Sharmistha Panoli case.