New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to urgently hear a plea filed by Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was recently arrested by the Haryana Police over a Facebook post related to ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, seeking an urgent listing.
“A professor at Ashoka University has been proceeded against for an entirely patriotic statement on Operation Sindoor. This may be listed immediately,” said Sibal.
Taking note of the urgency, the Chief Justice directed that the matter be listed for hearing on May 21.
The professor was remanded in two-day police custody by a magistrate on Sunday following his arrest.
Earlier this week, the Haryana State Women’s Commission also summoned Mahmudabad. The commission claimed his comments about the press briefings insulted women officers in the armed forces and spread communal tensions.
What did Ali Khan Mahmudabad say in his post?
In a social media post on May 8, Mahmudabad said, "I am very happy to see so many right wing commentators applauding Colonel Sophia Qureishi but perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the BJP’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens. The optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings is importantly but optics must translate to reality on the ground otherwise it’s just hypocrisy."
