The Supreme Court on Monday said it will consider on November 18 a plea by Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad seeking the release of his passport, which was surrendered as a bail condition after his arrest in May over controversial social media posts on “Operation Sindoor.”
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi observed that the professor was not travelling immediately and that his application could be taken up on the scheduled date.
During the brief hearing, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the Haryana government, submitted that Mahmudabad could travel abroad after furnishing his itinerary. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Mahmudabad, argued that if the state had no objection, the passport should be returned. “What is the use of keeping it? They should release the passport,” he said.
Haryana Police arrested Mahmudabad on May 18 after two FIRs were registered against him in Sonipat district — one based on a complaint by Haryana State Commission for Women Chairperson Renu Bhatia, and another by a village sarpanch.
On May 21, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail, directing that he surrender his passport before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sonipat, and cooperate fully with the investigation. The court had also restrained him from making public comments about the terror attack or India’s counter-response, while clarifying there was no bar on his general freedom of expression.
On July 16, the top court questioned the Haryana SIT’s approach, saying it had “misdirected itself,” and directed the team to confine its probe strictly to the two FIRs and determine whether any offence was made out.
Later, on August 25, the Supreme Court restrained the trial court from taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed by the Haryana SIT in one of the FIRs and from framing any charges in the case.
The SIT, formed under the Supreme Court’s directions, informed that a closure report had been filed in one FIR, while a chargesheet was submitted in the other on August 22.
Mahmudabad has been booked under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including:
- Section 152 (acts endangering sovereignty or unity and integrity of India)
- Section 353 (statements conducing to public mischief)
- Section 79 (insulting the modesty of a woman)
- Section 196(1) (promoting enmity between groups on religious grounds)
Kapil Sibal described the filing of the chargesheet as “most unfortunate,” noting that Section 152 (sedition-like offence) is itself under constitutional challenge before the Supreme Court.
Mahmudabad’s arrest had triggered widespread criticism from academics and political groups, who termed it an attack on free speech and academic freedom.
The Supreme Court will now take up the professor’s plea for release of his passport on November 18.
