The Supreme Court on Monday directed a trial judge not to take cognisance of a chargesheet filed against academic Ali Khan Mahmudabad in one of the two FIRs registered over his social media posts on Operation Sindoor.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, in an interim order, instructed the trial court not to frame charges on the basis of the chargesheet. The court also quashed proceedings in the second FIR after a police closure report. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Mahmudabad, were granted access to the chargesheet.
The academic was booked under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with acts endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India, carrying punishment up to life imprisonment. He had been arrested by Haryana Police on May 18 over allegations that his posts endangered national integrity.
Earlier, the court granted Mahmudabad interim bail on May 21 but allowed the investigation to continue. The Bench noted concerns of “dog whistling” in his posts and asked a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of senior IPS officers to assess the context and phraseology. The court also permitted Mahmudabad to continue writing, provided he refrains from commenting on the pending cases.
