NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court has granted interim bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was arrested over alleged “offensive” online posts related to Operation Sindoor.
Refusing to stay the ongoing investigation, the SC directed the Haryana DGP to form a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by an officer of IG rank, to probe the case.
Mahmudabad was arrested on May 18 and has been under custody ever since.
As a condition of interim bail, the apex court directed the professor not to publish any articles or online posts, or deliver any speeches on issues that are the subject matter of the case.
He is also restrained from making any comments on the recent crisis faced by India, described as “a terrorist attack on Indian soil or the counter-response” by the nation.
The top court further directed him to surrender his passport.
After the order was dictated, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, for the petitioner, requested the Court to restrain the registration of further FIRs on the same issue. “Nothing will happen,” Justice Kant orally said, according to Live Law.
Kapil Sibal who read out the post by Mahmudabad to the bench, said: “This is a highly patriotic statement.”
“Everybody has a right to express free speech. But is it the time to talk of this much communal..? The country has faced a big challenge. Monsters came all the way and attacked our innocents. We were staying united. But at this juncture, why to gain cheap popularity on this occasion,” Justice Kant replied.
Kant also criticised the petition.
About the petitioner’s comments, Justice Kant said, “This is what we call in the law – dog whistling!”
“When the choice of words is deliberately made to insult, humiliate or cause discomfort to other persons, the learned professor cannot have the lack of dictionary words…he could convey the very same feelings in a simple language without hurting others. Have some respect for the sentiments of others. Use simple and neutral kind of language, respecting others” Justice Kant said.
Sibal said that the comments had no “criminal intent.”
He added that the petitioner’s wife is nine months pregnant and expecting child delivery soon.
Mahmudabad is facing charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, inter alia, pertaining to acts prejudicial to maintaining communal harmony, making assertions likely to cause disharmony, acts endangering national sovereignty and words or gestures intended to insult a woman’s modesty.
The arrest has sparked strong condemnations by legislators, political leaders, critics, and human rights activists, with many calling it a blatant attack on academic freedom and alleging that he was targeted due to his Muslim identity. — With inputs from agencies
