Supreme Court grants interim bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad | Highlights
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 21, 2025) granted interim bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad but declined to stay the two First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against him over social media posts related to Operation Sindoor.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh also directed the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) within 24 hours to probe the case. The SIT is to comprise three senior officers who are not residents of Haryana, including a woman IPS officer, and will be headed by a Director General of Police (DGP)-rank officer.
The court clarified that the interim bail was being granted solely to facilitate the ongoing investigation. It further directed Mr. Mahmudabad to furnish a single bail bond for both the FIRs and submit his passport before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sonipat.
He was arrested under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on charges including endangering the sovereignty and integrity of the nation and promoting enmity between different groups. A local court in Haryana had earlier remanded him to judicial custody after rejecting the State Police’s request for a seven-day extension of his police custody.
The arrest has drawn widespread criticism from academics and civil society, who view it as an attack on free speech and academic freedom.
NHRC notice to Haryana Police chief
The National Human Rights Commission today said it has issued a notice to the Haryana Police chief over the arrest and remand to custody of Ali Khan Mahmudabad, an associate professor of the Ashoka University, and sought a report within a week.
NHRC said it has taken “suo motu cognisance” of a media report in connection with the arrest.
The rights panel noted that “the report, which contains a gist of the allegations based on which he has been arrested, discloses, prima facie, that the human rights and liberty of the said professor have been violated”.
The NHRC said it has “come across a news report, dated May 20, regarding the arrest and remand to custody of a professor of Ashoka University (a deemed to be University) in Haryana”.
Therefore, it has deemed it to be a fit case for taking suo motu cognisance of the reported incident, the commission said.
Accordingly, it has issued a notice to the Director General of Police, Haryana, seeking a detailed report within one week.