NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad but refused to stay the FIR and ordered the Haryana DGP to constitute an SIT of IPS officers to probe the bona fides of his allegedly objectionable statement made during Operation Sindoor.
Applying the standards of scrutiny enforced in the case of MP minister Vijay Shah who made "crass comments" against Col Sofiya Qureshi, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh perused Mahmudabad's statements and said, "Everyone has a right to express opinion. But was that the right time to say what he did? When the country was facing a challenge, why make statements on communal lines? Why is he trying to get cheap publicity in such a situation?"
The bench said "no case for stay of investigation is made out" and barred the petitioner from making any statement on Op Sindoor or related issues. The bench found that while commenting on Indo-Pak hostilities and Pakistan-backed terror activities, Mahmudabad had talked about 'mob lynching' and 'bulldozer justice'.
No criminality in prof's statement, counsel tells SC
The bench said, "You (Sibal) say he is Harvard educated. We find that his statement is using words and tractions to evade saying what he intends to say openly. After commenting on the impact of war on armed forces and civilians, he turned to politics. The way the statement is made, it is akin to dog whistling."
The court ordered Mahmudabad to surrender his passport and cooperate with the SIT. The bench also took note of the sit-in by Mahmudabad's colleagues at the police station and the trial court when it remanded him to police custody and said, "These people must desist from this drama. If they repeat that, we will pass stringent orders."
In its order, the bench said, "To holistically understand the complexity of the phraseology employed and for proper appreciation of some of the expressions used in the two online posts, an SIT probe is necessary." It directed the Haryana DGP to constitute the SIT within 24 hours. "If the SIT/investigating agency finds any other incriminating material against the petitioner, it shall be at liberty to place it on record and seek modification of the interim (bail) order," the bench said.
Appearing for Haryana govt, additional solicitor general S V Raju said certain important things were found in the police investigation and if needed, it would seek Mahmudabad's custody for further probe.
The bench said the SIT would comprise three state cadre IPS officers, who are not natives of Haryana or Delhi and one of them would be a woman. It will find out the bona fides of the statement and examine whether words were cleverly used to hurt the sentiments of the armed forces and women officers.
Appearing for Mahmudabad, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who claimed that he was appearing pro bono, said the petitioner could have waited till May 10 (cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan), but there was no criminality in the statement. "It was a highly patriotic statement," he said.
Responding to the invocation of fundamental rights on behalf of Mahmudabad, the bench emphasised that citizens also needed to perform their duties.
"We do not know what is happening. Everyone talks only about their this and that right as if for the last 75 years, the country is only distributing rights without teaching them what are their duties," the bench said.
Mahmudabad was arrested on May 18 for his allegedly offensive posts after FIRs were registered on complaints filed by Renu Bhatia, chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women, and the Jatheri village sarpanch, who is a BJP functionary.
Applying the standards of scrutiny enforced in the case of MP minister Vijay Shah who made "crass comments" against Col Sofiya Qureshi, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh perused Mahmudabad's statements and said, "Everyone has a right to express opinion. But was that the right time to say what he did? When the country was facing a challenge, why make statements on communal lines? Why is he trying to get cheap publicity in such a situation?"
The bench said "no case for stay of investigation is made out" and barred the petitioner from making any statement on Op Sindoor or related issues. The bench found that while commenting on Indo-Pak hostilities and Pakistan-backed terror activities, Mahmudabad had talked about 'mob lynching' and 'bulldozer justice'.
No criminality in prof's statement, counsel tells SC
The bench said, "You (Sibal) say he is Harvard educated. We find that his statement is using words and tractions to evade saying what he intends to say openly. After commenting on the impact of war on armed forces and civilians, he turned to politics. The way the statement is made, it is akin to dog whistling."
The court ordered Mahmudabad to surrender his passport and cooperate with the SIT. The bench also took note of the sit-in by Mahmudabad's colleagues at the police station and the trial court when it remanded him to police custody and said, "These people must desist from this drama. If they repeat that, we will pass stringent orders."
In its order, the bench said, "To holistically understand the complexity of the phraseology employed and for proper appreciation of some of the expressions used in the two online posts, an SIT probe is necessary." It directed the Haryana DGP to constitute the SIT within 24 hours. "If the SIT/investigating agency finds any other incriminating material against the petitioner, it shall be at liberty to place it on record and seek modification of the interim (bail) order," the bench said.
Appearing for Haryana govt, additional solicitor general S V Raju said certain important things were found in the police investigation and if needed, it would seek Mahmudabad's custody for further probe.
The bench said the SIT would comprise three state cadre IPS officers, who are not natives of Haryana or Delhi and one of them would be a woman. It will find out the bona fides of the statement and examine whether words were cleverly used to hurt the sentiments of the armed forces and women officers.
Appearing for Mahmudabad, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who claimed that he was appearing pro bono, said the petitioner could have waited till May 10 (cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan), but there was no criminality in the statement. "It was a highly patriotic statement," he said.
Responding to the invocation of fundamental rights on behalf of Mahmudabad, the bench emphasised that citizens also needed to perform their duties.
"We do not know what is happening. Everyone talks only about their this and that right as if for the last 75 years, the country is only distributing rights without teaching them what are their duties," the bench said.
Mahmudabad was arrested on May 18 for his allegedly offensive posts after FIRs were registered on complaints filed by Renu Bhatia, chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women, and the Jatheri village sarpanch, who is a BJP functionary.
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