The Supreme Court on Wednesday, July 16, questioned the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on how long the probe against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad would take and directed the investigation to be completed within four weeks.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi pulled up the SIT’s investigations against the professor, who was arrested for his social media posts on Operation Sindoor, for “misdirecting the case.”
“We are asking why SIT is, on the face of it, misdirecting itself. They were supposed to examine the contents of the posts,” the bench said.
The court also said that professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad need not be summoned to the court hereafter. “Since the petitioner has already joined the investigation and handed over his personal gadgets, it seems to us that it may not be necessary to summon the petitioner again for joining the investigation,”” the bench said.
“Though it may not be expedient or desirable for us to comment on the manner in which the SIT has proceeded, we however deem it to remind it the mandate contained in our order dated May 28 and consequently direct the SIT to conclude its investigation with reference to the contents of the two social media posts as early as possible but not later than four weeks,” it added.
It also allowed Professor Khan that he is free to write or express opinions on other topics.
The Ashoka University professor was arrested after he highlighted the irony of right-wing groups praising Indian Army Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force, briefed the media and the international community about May 7th Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory answer to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that claimed 26 lives.
“Perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing, and others who are victims of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens,” Khan had remarked.
His opinions were met with the ire of the Haryana State Women’s Commission which claimed that Khan’s comments on Colonel Sofya Qureshi’s press briefings “disparaged women officers in the Indian armed forces and promoted communal disharmony,” and his posts allegedly pointed at “genocide”, “dehumanisation” and “hypocrisy.”
On May 28, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to the professor, remarking that his social media statements on Operation Sindoor amount to dog whistling. The court refrained him from writing any online post, article or oral speech related to either of the two online posts, which are subject matter of the investigation.
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