Granted interim bail, Ashoka University prof to walk out of Sonepat jail tomorrow
The Supreme Court pulled up Ali Khan Mahmudabad for his Facebook post on Op Sindoor and accused him of “dog-whistling” while refusing to stay the investigation against him.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was arrested by Haryana Police on Sunday for his social media post on Operation Sindoor, but the Ashoka University professor will walk out of Sonepat jail only on Thursday morning.
His lawyer Kapil Balyan said Mahmudabad’s team is likely to get the interim bail orders by Wednesday evening and the professor would be released on Thursday. Though the Supreme Court pulled up Mahmudabad for his Facebook post and accused him of “dog-whistling” while refusing to stay the investigation against him, his lawyer said: “This is a big victory for democracy and truth has prevailed.”
Dog-whistling refers to the use of coded or suggestive language aimed at a particular group in society.
The apex court also directed that the state police chief to set up a special investigation team (SIT), comprising three senior officers not residing in Haryana, including a woman IPS officer, to probe the case.
The bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said the bail was being granted only to facilitate the ongoing investigation. It directed Mahmudabad, who is the head of the political science department at Ashoka University, to furnish a single bail bond for both FIRs against him and submit his passport before the chief judicial magistrate, Sonepat.
Mahmudabad’s post, which praised the military’s restraint while warning against “warmongering and performative patriotism”, drew criticism from the Haryana State Commission for Women. Its chairperson Renu Bhatia complained that he had disparaged women officers, particularly Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, who briefed the media after the cross-border strike.
The second case was also registered at the Rai police station on the complaint of local BJP youth leader and village sarpanch Yogesh Jatheri.
On Tuesday, the Sonepat court had sent Mahmudabad to judicial custody till May 27.
“We are relieved and heartened by Mahmudabad being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court. It has provided great comfort to his family and all of us at Ashoka University,” the university said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Mahmudabad’s counsel Balyan and Mohammad Chand Hussain submitted in the Sonepat court that the professor’s passport would be handed over to the investigating officer by Wednesday evening.
