The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the plea of Ali Khan Mahmudabad, associate professor and head of the political science department at the Ashoka University, Haryana, challenging his arrest over social media remarks linked to Operation Sindoor – the Indian military operation on terrorists’ camps in Pakistan following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

A bench comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih said it would list the matter for urgent hearing on May 20 or 21, after senior advocate Kapil Sibal made a mentioning for an urgent listing.

Advertisement

“He has been arrested for a patriotic statement. Please list it,” Sibal told the bench, making a mentioning.

The arrest has triggered strong reactions across academic and civil rights circles, with concerns raised over the alleged misuse of criminal provisions to curb academic freedom and expression.

Mahmudabad was arrested on Sunday from his Delhi residence by the Haryana Police and was subsequently remanded to two-day police custody.

The professor faces charges under the provisions related to endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India, with authorities citing his social media post as the trigger.

The Haryana State Women Commission had earlier taken cognisance of the post, alleging that the professor’s remarks were disparaging towards women officers in the Indian Armed Forces and amounted to promoting communal disharmony.

On May 13, Commission Chairperson Renu Bhatia issued summons to Mahmudabad, seeking an explanation for the remarks.

In his response, Mahmudabad clarified that his post had been “completely misunderstood” and said his intent was neither disparaging nor communal.

The charge stem from Prof. Mahmudabad’s May 8 social media post, where he remarked on the public messaging during the Operation Sindoor briefing led by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.

“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.”

In his concluding lines, Prof. Mahmudabad had said, “For me the press conference was just a fleeting glimpse — an illusion and allusion perhaps — to an India that defied the logic on which Pakistan was built. As I said, the grassroots reality that common Muslims face is different from what the government tried to show but at the same time the press conference shows that an India, united in its diversity, is not completely dead as an idea.”

The arrest has sparked fierce political and academic criticism, with critics have drawn stark comparisons with the recent controversial remarks made by Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah, who had alluded to Col. Qureshi as “their own community’s sister (unki samaj ki behen)”.

The Committee for Academic Freedom (CAF) at Ashoka University called the arrest “a disproportionate punishment on flimsy grounds” and warned that such action constitutes a “fundamental attack on academic freedom”.