The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad’s plea against his arrest over his post on Operation Sindoors’s press briefing, in which he had also targeted the BJP over its alleged “hate mongering” against Muslims.

Representing the professor, senior advocate Kapil Sibal had mentioned the plea before a Supreme Court bench for urgent hearing. The bench agreed to hear the petition in the next couple of days.

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Mahmudabad, an associate professor of Political Science, was arrested by the Haryana Police following an FIR registered against him at Rai police station in Sonipat. He was booked under the charges of endangering the country’s sovereignty and integrity and promoting enmity between different groups, among others.

In the controversial post, the academician’s wrote: “….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 important but optics must translate to reality on the ground otherwise it’s just hypocrisy.”

However, the remarks didn’t go down well with the Haryana State Commission for Women. The commission took suo motu cognizance and issued a notice, alleging that his statement undermined the women officers in the Indian armed forces. He was also accused of fomenting communal discord.

The professor, in response to the notice, argued that his remarks were misunderstood and that the state women’s commission has no jurisdiction in the matter.

“The Women’s Commission is a body that serves an important function; however, the summons issued to me fails to highlight how my post is contrary to the rights of or laws for women,” he stated.

“I even applauded members of the right wing who supported Colonel Qureshi and invited them to have the same attitude for common Indian Muslims who face demonisation and persecution on a daily basis. If anything, my entire comment was about safeguarding the lives of both citizens and soldiers. Furthermore, there is nothing remotely misogynistic about my comments that could be construed as anti-women,” he said in a statement released on X.