New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday barred a trial court from taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad in connection with FIRs lodged over his posts on Operation Sindoor.
Mahmudabad, an associate professor and head of the Political Science department at Ashoka University, Sonipat, had moved the apex court challenging the FIRs. Hearing his plea, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said: “With regard to FIR No.147, a copy of the investigation report has been handed over to senior counsel for the petitioner. Meanwhile, no cognisance shall be taken of the chargesheet.”
The professor was at the centre of a controversy in May after making what authorities termed a “contentious” post about Operation Sindoor. His remarks mentioned Col. Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, and described the press briefing following the operation as “optics” and “hypocrisy”.
Following this, two FIRs were filed, and Mahmudabad was briefly jailed before being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on May 22. The court had also directed a special investigation team to submit a report in the matter.
A closure report has since been filed in one of the FIRs, with the Supreme Court directing quashing of the related proceedings. However, in the second FIR, a chargesheet was submitted on August 22. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Mahmudabad, termed the chargesheet “most unfortunate” and noted that he had been booked under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (sedition), whose constitutional validity is under challenge.
In addition to sedition, other charges invoked against the professor include BNS Section 353 (statements conducing to public mischief), Section 79 (deliberate actions intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and Section 196(1) (promoting enmity between groups on religious grounds).
