SC stays trial against Ashoka University professor booked for Op Sindoor posts

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed trial court proceedings against Ashoka University political science professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was booked by Haryana Police over his social media posts on Operation Sindoor. A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed an interim order restraining the jurisdictional magistrate from taking cognisance of the Haryana Police’s charge sheet involving an offence under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which relates to an offence against the sovereignty of the nation. The Justice Kant-led Bench also noted that a closure report had been filed in one of the FIRs against Mahmudabad and accordingly quashed those proceedings.

In an earlier hearing, the top court had pulled up the Haryana Special Investigation Team (SIT) for unnecessarily widening the scope of its probe, after being informed that the SIT had seized Mahmudabad’s electronic devices and sought his decade-long travel history. It had also ordered that Mahmudabad should not be summoned again, noting that he had already joined the investigation and submitted his electronic devices. The Justice Kant-led Bench had directed the high-level probe panel to conclude its investigation within four weeks, reiterating that the SIT should restrict its probe to the language and content of the social media posts on the Pahalgam terror attack and the country's cross-border military response.

In an order passed on May 21, the apex court ordered the Haryana DGP to constitute an SIT comprising three directly recruited IPS officers, who do not belong to Haryana or Delhi, to holistically understand the complexity of the phraseology employed and for proper appreciation of some of the expressions used in the two online posts. "The SIT shall be headed by an Officer at least in the rank of Inspector General of Police; the remaining two members will be Officers in the rank of Superintendent of Police and above. One of the members of the SIT will be a woman IPS Officer. The Director General of Police is directed to constitute the SIT within 24 hours. The petitioner shall join and fully cooperate with the investigation," it had ordered. To facilitate the investigation, the Supreme Court had directed that Mahmudabad be released on interim bail, subject to his furnishing bail bonds to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sonipat.

Mahmudabad, 42, was arrested on a complaint filed by Yogesh Jatheri, the General Secretary of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Haryana. An FIR was lodged against Mahmudabad under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to inciting armed rebellion or subversive activities and insulting religious beliefs. Also, sedition-like charges were filed against him. Haryana State Commission for Women Chairperson Renu Bhatia took suo motu cognisance of Mahmudabad's remarks, which were alleged to be disparaging toward women in the Indian Armed Forces and promoting communal disharmony. The women's rights body had summoned the professor, but he failed to appear.