SC grants interim bail to Mahmudabad but refuses to stay FIR, slams language used in his post

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, arrested for his alleged offensive social media posts on Operation Sindoor, but refused to stay the investigation against him.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotisar Singh directed the Haryana DGP to constitute a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by an IG rank officer and including an SP rank woman officer within 24 hours for investigating the case.

The bench, which examined the online post by the professor, who heads the political science department in the Sonipat-based Ashoka University, questioned his choice of words, saying they were used deliberately to humiliate, insult, or put others in discomfort.

The bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal that although everybody has the right to freedom of expression, statements by Mahmudabad were was what is called "dog whistling" in law.

"At the time when so many things were happening in the country, where was the occasion for him to use these kinds of words which could be insulting, humiliating and putting others in discomfort. He is a learned man, he cannot be said to be short of words," Justice Surya Kant said during the hearing.

The bench restrained the professor from writing any further online posts on the recent India-Pakistan conflict and asked him to cooperate with the SIT investigation.

On Tuesday, a court in Sonipat sent Mahmudabad to judicial custody till May 27.