Today, Monday, May 19, the Supreme Court (SC) of India has agreed to hear a petition challenging the detention of Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad.
Prof Mahmudabad was held by the Haryana police for remarks he made about Operation Sindoor, which purportedly disparaged women officers in the Indian Armed Forces and promoted communal conflict.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, who presided over a two-judge panel, "A professor of Ashoka University has been proceeded against for entirely patriotic statements."
While Sibal urged the court to hear it on May 21, CJI Gavai consented to hear it sooner, but the exact date will be determined once it is listed, The Indian Express reports.
On May 12, the National Commission for Women issued a notice to Mahmudabad following a suo motu cognisance of his social media posts following Operation Sindoor on May 7.
The remarks were included in the show cause notice. Mahmudabad was also asked to appear before the commission. The commission saw his words as "an attempt to vilify national military actions".
Mahmudabad has been slapped with First Information Reports (FIRs) based on complaints filed by Renu Bhatia, Chairperson of the Haryana State Commission for Women, and Yogesh Jatheri, Sarpanch of Jatheri village and General Secretary of the Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Yuva Morcha.
Both FIRs were filed at the Rai police station in the state's Sonipat district.
In a statement issued Sunday, May 18, Ashoka University said: “We have been made aware that Prof. Ali Khan Mahmudabad has been taken into police custody earlier today. We are in the process of ascertaining details of the case. The University will continue to cooperate with the Police and local authorities in the investigation, fully.”
