- Tuesday, June 17, 2025
The bench clarified that the interim bail has been granted to facilitate further investigation and refused to stay the first information reports registered against the professor
By: India Weekly
THE SUPREME COURT on Wednesday (21) granted interim bail to Ashoka University associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, arrested for his social media posts on Operation Sindoor.
The bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Singh clarified that the interim bail is granted to facilitate further investigation and refused to stay the first information reports (FIRs) registered against him.
The court restrained Mahmudabad, who heads the political science department in the Sonipat-based university, from writing any social media posts or articles in relation to the subject matter of the case or from expressing any opinion in relation to the terrorist attack on Indian soil or the counter-response given by India.
The court also directed him to surrender his passport.
The apex court also directed the Haryana police to constitute a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising senior police officers to probe the case.
The professor’s advocate, Kapil Sibal, invited the bench to consider the comments posted on his Facebook and Instagram profiles.
The bench examined the professor’s online post and questioned his choice of words, saying they were used deliberately to humiliate, insult, or put others in discomfort.
The bench told Sibal that although everybody has the right to freedom of expression, statements by Mahmudabad were was what is called “dog whistling” in law.
The Ashoka University on Wednesday (21) said it was “relieved” and “heartened” that the Supreme Court granted interim bail to its professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad.
“We are relieved and heartened by prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad being granted interim bail by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. It has provided great comfort to his family and all of us at Ashoka University,” the university said in a statement.
The Haryana police had on Sunday (18) arrested Mahmudabad after two FIRs were registered against him, alleging his social media posts on Operation Sindoor endangered the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
The FIRs were lodged at the Rai police station in Sonipat district – one based on a complaint by the chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women, Renu Bhatia, and the other on a complaint by a village sarpanch.
Several political parties and academicians have condemned the arrest.
A court in Sonipat had on Tuesday (20) sent Mahmudabad to judicial custody till May 27, after the expiry of his two-day police remand.
During the police remand period the laptop of the professor was seized and copies of passbooks, Aadhar card, etc, have been obtained.
It was submitted by the state that the professor’s mobile phone and laptop have been sent to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory, Panchkula. (Agencies)
