THE SUPREME COURT TODAY, in an interim order, restrained a Magistrate court from taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed against Ali Khan Mahmudabad, Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at Ashoka University, over his social media posts on Operation Sindoor. The Court also questioned why the investigating agency was “misdirecting itself” in the case.
A Division Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed the order after the Haryana Police informed that it had filed a closure report in one of the two FIRs registered against Mahmudabad, while a chargesheet had been filed in the other.
The Court quashed the FIR in which the closure report was filed and, with regard to the second case, directed that the Magistrate should not proceed to take cognisance of the chargesheet for now.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mahmudabad, objected to the filing of the chargesheet.
Earlier, the top Court had pulled up the Haryana Police Special Investigation Team (‘SIT’), constituted to probe the cases, for allegedly expanding the scope of investigation beyond the two posts in question. Taking note of reports that the SIT had seized Mahmudabad’s devices and had sought details of his foreign travel over the past decade, the Court asked why the SIT was straying beyond the remit of the FIRs.
The Court had previously granted interim bail to Mahmudabad but declined to stay the FIRs, holding that investigation could proceed while protecting his liberty.
Mahmudabad was arrested by Haryana Police from his residence in Delhi after two FIRs were lodged against him for allegedly endangering India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity through remarks on Operation Sindoor. The Haryana State Women’s Commission had also alleged that his comments disparaged women officers in the armed forces and promoted communal disharmony.
The professor has maintained that his remarks were misunderstood and misrepresented.
