SC Grants Interim Bail to Ashoka University Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, Bars Him from Posting on India-Pak Conflict

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad in connection with his controversial post on Operation Sindoor, the military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The court, however, declined to stay the investigation or quash the FIRs lodged against him in Haryana.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh directed that Mahmudabad be released on interim bail, subject to furnishing bail bonds before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sonepat. “There shall be only one set of bail bonds for both FIRs,” the court stated.

The apex court expressed concern over the language used by Mahmudabad in his online post, noting that the words appeared intended to “humiliate, insult, or create discomfort.” Justice Surya Kant remarked during the hearing, “At a time when so many things were happening in the country, what was the need to use words that could be insulting or humiliating? He is a learned man, he cannot be said to be short of words.”

While defending the fundamental right to free speech, the court warned that Mahmudabad’s statements amounted to “dog whistling”, a term used to describe subtle messaging aimed at provoking specific sentiments under the guise of neutrality.

The court imposed strict conditions on the professor: “No article or online posts to be made and neither deliver any speech on the issues which are subject matter of this case… He is restrained from making any comments on the crisis recently faced by India, which was a terrorist attack on Indian soil or the counter response given by our nation,” the court ordered.

Additionally, the court directed Mahmudabad to surrender his passport and asked the Haryana DGP to constitute a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) within 24 hours. The SIT must be headed by an IG-rank officer and include a woman SP-rank officer from outside Haryana or Delhi.

Two FIRs were filed against Mahmudabad — one by Renu Bhatia, Chairperson of the Haryana State Commission for Women, and another by Yogesh Jatheri, General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). Both complaints alleged that Mahmudabad’s remarks on X (formerly Twitter) were anti-national, inflammatory, and disrespectful to the armed forces.

Mahmudabad has defended his remarks as a “misunderstood appeal for peace.” Critics, however, argue that his post on Operation Sindoor — launched by Indian armed forces to target terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7 — insulted India’s counter-terrorism response.