The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the trial proceedings against Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad of Ashoka University. Operation Sindoor is facing a case against Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, facing two police matters for a controversial social media post. A bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the Haryana Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) not to fed the charges against the professor until further orders.
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During the hearing, the Haryana Police told the bench that a closure report has already been filed in one of the two FIRs lodged against Mahmudabad. This development may reduce the legal burden on the professor, although the proceedings of the second case have still been stopped due to the court order.
Professor Mahmudabad was arrested on 18 May, as he wrote a post on the government’s decision to choose Colonel Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh for a military operation launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April. It was allegedly criticized due to the accents and implications of this post, after which he was arrested under several sections of the Indian Justice Code (BNS).
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Bail conditions were initially restrictive, later relaxed
The Supreme Court gave bail to Mahmudabad three days after the arrest, with some conditions that he could not write or speak publicly about the case or Operation Sindoor. He also had to submit his passport. However, on May 28, the bench relaxed these conditions of bail and allowed him to express his opinion on other matters, provided he would not comment on the case under consideration.
Mahmudabad is accused under several sections of BNS, including:
Section 152: A person of India’s sovereignty or unity
Section 353: Private statements for public mischief
Section 79: Action taken with the aim of insulting a woman’s dignity
Section 196 (1): Promoting enmity among different groups on the basis of religion