FREE SPEECH: Indian Top Court Slams SIT for ‘Misdirected’ Probe in Ashoka Univ Prof Case, Restores Some Freedoms

The Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a pointed reprimand to the Haryana Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) for what it termed as an “apparent misdirection” in its handling of the case against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was arrested in May for social media posts on Operation Sindoor.

A bench led by Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi made it clear that the SIT’s job was to evaluate whether Mahmudabad’s posts crossed the legal line — not to mount a digital excavation of his life. 

Image Source: Mahmudabad on X

“Why has the SIT gone off the rails?” the court questioned, adding that seizing his devices — including personal phones — was unwarranted given his cooperation with the probe.

The court also took a scalpel to the bail gag order previously imposed, now allowing the professor to post opinions and write freely, with one caveat: no commentary on the case pending against him. 

In essence, he can critique the moon, write on the Mahabharata, or teach constitutional law — just not talk about his own legal bind.

The court reiterated that while the investigation would continue, Mahmudabad should not be summoned again and that the SIT must now limit itself strictly to examining the contents of the two FIRs registered against him — not his reading habits, phone history, or musical preferences.

The FIRs were filed by the Haryana Police in Sonipat’s Rai police station — one initiated by Haryana Women’s Commission Chairperson Renu Bhatia, the other by a local village head. 

The charges slapped under India’s new criminal code, BNS, include sections related to threats to national integrity, promoting religious enmity, and “insulting the modesty of a woman” — a curious inclusion that the internet has already dubbed “bizarrely creative jurisprudence.”

Mahmudabad, a professor of history and political thought, was arrested on May 18 following a flurry of condemnation from academic and political circles. 

Critics labelled the arrest “alarmingly disproportionate,” with many calling it an example of weaponised policing in the name of patriotism.

Operation Sindoor — a codename for India’s May military strike across the Line of Control in response to the Pahalgam terror attack — was hailed officially as a bold, precision military operation. 

Mahmudabad’s posts, now under scrutiny, allegedly questioned the operation’s framing and symbolism, sparking accusations of disloyalty and dissent.

The Supreme Court had earlier granted him interim bail on May 21, but refused to halt the investigation at the time. 

Now, the probe will continue under a trimmed mandate, with the SIT given four weeks to submit a report focused strictly on the content of the posts — not the person posting them.

In a time when satire feels safer in the courtroom than on social media, the Supreme Court’s verdict signals a reminder to investigative agencies: a dissenting voice isn’t always a destructive one — and sedition isn’t a one-size-fits-all.