The Supreme Court granted interim bail to Ali Khan Mahmudabad, an associate professor and head of the Political Science Department at Ashoka University in Haryana. He was arrested on May 18 by Haryana Police over a social media post about Operation Sindoor, a military operation targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The FIRs filed against him, based on complaints from Haryana State Women’s Commission chairperson Renu Bhatia and BJP Yuva Morcha leader Yogesh Jatheri, alleged his remarks disparaged women officers in the Indian Armed Forces, promoted communal disharmony, and endangered India’s sovereignty under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Mahmudabad’s post on May 8 praised the armed forces’ choice of women officers—Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh—for the media briefing on Operation Sindoor, noting it reflected India’s secular vision. However, he criticized the “optics” as hypocritical unless paired with action against mob lynchings and arbitrary demolitions, which he linked to the BJP’s “hate-mongering.” The Supreme Court, while granting bail, criticized his language as “dog-whistling” and an attempt to gain “cheap popularity” during a sensitive time following the Pahalgam terror attack. The court imposed conditions: Mahmudabad must not write articles, post online, or speak about the case, Operation Sindoor, or the Pahalgam attack, and he must surrender his passport and cooperate with a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the case further.
The arrest sparked outrage from academics, opposition parties like TMC, RJD, and AIMIM, and groups like Amnesty International, who called it a crackdown on free speech and academic freedom. Ashoka University’s faculty association condemned the arrest as “calculated harassment,” while the university initially distanced itself but later expressed relief at the bail, noting it provided comfort to Mahmudabad’s family and the university community. The next hearing is scheduled for May 27, with the investigation ongoing.
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