After Supreme Court's Nudge, Haryana Govt Rejects Sanction To Prosecute Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad For Posts On 'Operation Sindoor'

The Haryana Government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it has refused to grant sanction to prosecute Ashoka University Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad in the criminal case registered over his social media posts regarding “Operation Sindoor.”

A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, recording the submission made on behalf of the State by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, quashed the criminal proceedings.

ASG Raju also submitted that the Professor may be warned so that "he may not indulge in such acts in future." Senior Advocates Siddharth Luthra and Advocate Nizam Pasha appeared for the Professor.

The Court had earlier urged the State to reconsider the matter and close the case by declining sanction for prosecution. The development occurred in the petition filed by Professor Khan seeking to quash the criminal proceedings. In May last year, the Court had granted him interim bail, but after orally deprecating his posts. The Court had also constituted a Special Investigation Team to discern the real meaning of the posts and to ascertain if there was any criminality.

While disposing of the matter today, the bench also recorded: “We have no reason to doubt that the petitioner, being a highly learned professor, will act in a prudent manner in future,” the Court said.

"Sometimes writing in a manner which can be read between the lines creates more problems. Sometimes the situation is sensitive, and we all have to be careful," CJI Surya Kant commented

The case arose from an FIR registered against Prof. Mahmudabad over certain social media comments regarding the treatment of minorities in India, which were posted in the context of appreciation for Colonel Sofiya Qureshi leading the press briefings of Operation Sindoor.  Offences under Sections 196, 152 etc., of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, inter-alia, pertaining to acts prejudicial to maintaining communal harmony, making assertions likely to cause disharmony, acts endangering national sovereignty, etc., were invoked against him. He had spent three days in custody before the grant of inteirm bail by the Supreme Court.

Case Details : MOHAMMAD AMIR AHMAD @ ALI KHAN MAHMUDABAD Versus STATE OF HARYANA | W.P.(Crl.) No. 219/2025