Guwahati: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to urgently hear a petition filed by Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad.
He challenged his arrest over controversial remarks about Operation Sindoor, India’s military offensive against terror groups in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
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Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Mahmudabad, mentioned the case before a Supreme Court bench. The court confirmed it would hear the plea within two days.
Authorities arrested Mahmudabad after he posted comments on social media that criticized media briefings led by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, two Indian women officers who, along with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, had addressed the press following Operation Sindoor.
In his post, Mahmudabad referred to their presence as “optics” and claimed it was “just hypocrisy” unless symbolic representation translated into real change on the ground.
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He also accused the government of selective outrage, calling on supporters of the military to also condemn mob lynchings and other alleged injustices in India.
The arrest followed a complaint filed by Yogesh Jatheri, the General Secretary of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Haryana.
The Haryana State Commission for Women had earlier taken suo motu cognisance of Mahmudabad’s remarks, alleging they insulted women in the armed forces and risked inciting communal tensions.
In a formal notice, the commission argued that the professor’s comments undermined the credibility of women officers and could disturb public harmony.
Mahmudabad, who currently serves as the Head of the Political Science Department at Ashoka University in Sonipat, is also a poet, writer, and public intellectual.
He briefly joined politics in 2017 through the Samajwadi Party. He is married to the daughter of Haseeb Drabu, a former minister from Jammu and Kashmir.
The Supreme Court’s decision to fast-track the hearing comes amid growing public and academic concern over freedom of expression and the boundaries of dissent in the digital age.