The Supreme Court on Monday restrained a trial court from taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, the Supreme Court said on Monday, hearing a plea filed by the professor against the FIRs filed over his posts on Operation Sindoor.
“With regard to FIR No.147, a copy of investigation report has been handed over to sr counsel for petitioner. Meanwhile, no cognizance shall be taken of the chargesheet,” the Supreme Court bench said in its order, pronounced by a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi.
Mahmudabad was earlier granted interim bail and a special investigation team was asked to file a report in his case.
Ali Khan Mahmudabad, an associate professor and head of the Political Science department at Haryana’s Ashoka University, found himself at the centre of a controversy back in May over a “contentious” post he made on Operation Sindoor.
Two FIRs were registered against him and he was briefly jailed. However, he was released on May 22 after the Supreme Court granted him an interim bail.
Mahmudabad's post named Col Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and purportedly called the initial press conference after the launch of Operation Sindoor “optics” and “just hypocrisy”.
{{/usCountry}}Mahmudabad's post named Col Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and purportedly called the initial press conference after the launch of Operation Sindoor “optics” and “just hypocrisy”.
{{/usCountry}}A closure report has been filed in one of the two FIRs filed against Mahmudabad, for which the top court directed quashing of all the proceedings.
In the other FIR, a chargesheet was filed on August 22, which advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Mahmudabad, termed “most unfortunate”. The counsel also pointed out that the professor was booked under section 152 of BNS (sedition), whose validity is under challenge.
Apart from this charge, BNS sections 152 (acts endangering sovereignty or unity and integrity of India), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief), 79 (deliberate actions aimed at insulting the modesty of a woman) and 196 (1) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), were also slapped against the professor.
(With PTI inputs)