Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail To Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad; Forms SIT To Probe Posts On Operation Sindoor

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 21) granted interim bail to Ashoka University Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad in the Haryana Police FIR over his social media posts about 'Operation Sindoor.' He was arrested on May 18 and has been under custody ever since.At the same time, the Court refused to stay the investigation. The Court also directed the Haryana DGP to constitute within 24 hours a Special Investigation Team comprising senior 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 these two online posts.”One officer of the SIT should be a woman. The SIT should be headed by an IG rank officer and the other two members must be of SP rank.As a condition of interim bail, the Court restrained Ali Khan Mahmudabad from writing any posts or articles in relation to the social media posts which are 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 join and fully cooperate with the investigation. He has been directed to surrender his passport.The bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Singh clarified that the interim bail is granted to facilitate further investigation. 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. Justice Kant orally asked the State of Haryana to ensure that. The State was granted liberty to place on record any further incriminating materials they discover during the course of the investigation.Bench questions the petitioner's posts during the hearingAt the outset, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal invited the bench's attention to Mahmudabad's comments posted on his Facebook and Instagram profiles. He read out the comments to the bench. "This is a highly patriotic statement," Sibal said.Referring to Mahmudabad's comments about "right-wing commentators applauding Colonel Sofiya Qureshi" and his statement that right-wing commentators must equally express concerns for victims of mob lynching, bulldozing etc., Justice Kant said, "So after commenting about war, he turned to politics!""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 said.Sibal, agreeing that Mahmudabad's comments could have waited till May 10th, however, asked what was the criminality in his comments."Everybody talks about rights. As if the country for last 75 years was distributing rights!" Justice Kant said.Petitioner's comments 'dog-whistling', he should have used 'neutral and respectful' language : Justice Surya KantAbout the petitioner's comments, Justice Kant said, "This is what we call in the law - dog whistling!""Some of the opinions are not offending to the nation as such. But while giving an opinion, if you...." Justice Kant said."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 highlighted that the petitioner said that the press briefing of Operation Sindoor showed that the logic on which Pakistan was built has failed, and that the post ended with "Jai Hind."He added that the petitioner's wife is nine months pregnant and expecting child delivery soon.Justice Kant asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the State of Haryana, if the comments had the effect of insulting women army officers. Justice Kant said that the bona fides of the comment was a subject matter of investigation. "The entire projection is that he is anti-War, saying families of army people, civilian in border areas etc., suffer. But some words have double meaning also.," he said.ASG Raju said that the post was not as innocent as projected by Sibal.Yesterday, Mahmudabad was sent to judicial custody by a local court in Sonepat, Haryana.The Court rejected the State Police's request for his 7-day custody. On May 18, the Magistrate remanded the Professor to police custody for two days.Mahmudabad is facing offences under Section 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 and words or gestures intended to insult a woman's modesty.He was also ...

Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail To Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad; Forms SIT To Probe Posts On Operation Sindoor

Anmol Kaur Bawa

During the hearing, the bench led by Justice Kant expressed disapproval of the petitioner's post.

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