Ashoka Professor Gets Bail, Probe To Continue

The Supreme Court today granted bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad but pulled him up for his social media post on Operation Sindoor. The court said "monsters" came and attacked our country and asked the professor why he needed to seek "cheap publicity".

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Singh blasted the professor for the timing of his remarks, calling it "dog whistling" and an attempt to get "cheap publicity".

"We direct the petitioner be released on interim bail... Having regard to the contents of two alleged offending online posts, we are satisfied that no case for staying the investigation is made out," the court said. The court also directed the Haryana top cop to constitute within 24 hours a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising senior IPS officers for a further probe. However, the court said the officers should not be from Haryana or Delhi and one should be a woman.

The court imposed certain conditions on Mahmudabad, barring the professor from posting or making any speech on the case. He also cannot make any remarks in connection to the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent hostilities between India and Pakistan. The court ordered the professor to surrender his passport.

Mahmudabad was arrested on May 18 and was sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Haryana court on Tuesday. His post was perceived as critical of the military and disrespectful to the women officers, Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, who led the media briefings on Operation Sindoor.

During the hearing, the Supreme Court, however, didn't mince any words while pulling up the professor, saying his remarks amounted to "dog-whistling" and he should have used "neutral and respectful" language."The entire projection is that he is anti-war, saying families of Army people, civilians in border areas suffer. But some words have double meanings also," the court said. While everyone had freedom of speech, such occasions (during India-Pakistan tensions) should not be used to garner publicity.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the professor, told the court that the petitioner's wife was nine months pregnant. The Additional Solicitor General pointed out that Mahmudabad's post was not as innocent as projected by Sibal.

"You should know what is happening. There is a right to free speech etc...Where is the duty? As if the whole country for the last 75 years is only distributing rights and no duty," the court said in strong remarks.