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On Wednesday, the Supreme Court directed the Director General of Police of Haryana to constitute an SIT comprising three officers not hailing from Haryana or Delhi, within 24 hours.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the complaint against Ali Khan Mahmudabad, associate professor and head of the Political Science department at Ashoka University in Haryana. The petition against the arrest was filed by the professor, who was represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal. Mahmudabad was remanded to two-day police custody after the Haryana police arrested him from Delhi, following the registration of two separate cases over a social media post on Operation Sindoor.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court directed the Director General of Police of Haryana to constitute an SIT comprising three officers not hailing from Haryana or Delhi, within 24 hours. The bench, led by Justices Surya Kant and NK Singh, also granted him interim bail with conditions that he would cooperate fully with the investigation and not make any public comments on the matter. “If the investigation authority finds any further incriminating material, they can place on record and seek modification of the interim order,” the court said.
Kapil Sibal argued that the post was not made with derogatory intentions, but to salute women officers. “The post is not creating any communal tension. [His] wife is 9 months pregnant and can be delivered anytime. The post was a patriotic statement, just see what he says on the idea of India. He ends with Jai Hind,” he pleaded. The state argued that some of the words have double meaning. The court agreed and said that the professor should have used simple and neutral language without hurting the sentiments of others.
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What was the post about?
In the post, Mahmudabad said, "Strategically, India has actually begun a new phase in terms of collapsing distinction between military and terrorist (non-state actors) in Pakistan. In effect, the response to any terrorist activity will invite a conventional response and so this puts the onus on the Pakistani military to make sure that it cannot hide any longer behind terrorists and non-state actors. In any case, the Pak military has used militarised non-state actors to destabilise the region for far too long while also claiming to be victims on the international stage.It has also used the same actors - some of whom were targeted in the recent strikes - to foment sectarian tension in Pakistan. Operation Sindoor resets all received notions of Indo-Pak relationships as the response to terrorist attacks will be met with a military response and removes any semantic distinction between the two.
Despite this collapse, care has been taken by the Indian armed forces to not target military or civilian installations..."
He clarified that his remarks were misinterpreted. He explained that his intention was to criticize war-mongering narratives and draw attention to civilian suffering during conflicts, while stressing the importance of safeguarding all Indian citizens, including minorities. He also expressed support for the Indian military’s restrained approach and condemned Pakistan’s use of terrorism.
Haryana State Commission for Women chairperson Renu Bhatia had criticised Ashoka University associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad for not appearing before the commission in connection with his social media comments on Operation Sindoor. She had earlier termed Mahmudabad's social media comments as disparaging toward women officers in the Indian Armed Forces as it had referred to Colonel Sophia Qureshi. Mahmudabad had written that rightwing supporters who are praising the woman officer should also decry the bulldozing of houses, mob lynching among other incidents happening the country.
