The Supreme Court on Monday restrained the trial court from taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad for his social media posts on Operation Sindoor.

The bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also told Haryana Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) that it cannot frame charges against the professor till the next hearing.

The Haryana police told the court that it had filed a closure report in one of the cases filed against Mahmudabad, as reported by multiple websites.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mahmudabad, termed the filing of the chargesheet as "most unfortunate" and said they have booked him under section 152 of BNS (sedition), whose validity is under challenge.

The bench asked Sibal to go through the chargesheet and prepare a chart of the alleged offences, saying it would consider the submissions on the next date of hearing.

The top court noted that in one FIR against Mahmudabad, a closure report has been filed and directed for quashing all the proceedings related to the case.

On May 21, the top court had granted interim bail to the professor but refused to stay the investigation against him. It had directed the setting up of a three-member SIT to look into the FIRs lodged against him.

"He will not write any article or online post or deliver any speech related to the case, he won't comment on the April 22 Pahalgam attack or Operation Sindoor, and he will surrender his passport," the top court said in its earlier order.

Haryana police had arrested Mahmudabad, associate professor of Political Science at Ashoka University, on May 18 after the state women’s commission summoned him over a Facebook post commenting on the media coverage of Operation Sindoor.

Ashoka University had distanced itself from the views of the professor. “Comments made by a faculty member on his personal social media pages do not represent the opinion of the university,” the statement read.

The charges against him include sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) that relate to inciting communal disharmony, rebellion and insulting religious beliefs, a move that has triggered outrage across academic and activist circles.

Here's what Mahmudabad had written on Facebook: “Lastly, I am very happy to see so many right wing commentators applauding Colonel Sophia Qureishi but perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the BJP’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens. The optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings is important but optics must translate to reality on the ground otherwise it’s just hypocrisy.”

He added: “Perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens.”

The Haryana State Commission for Women had accused him of “disparaging women officers in the Indian armed forces” and “promoting communal disharmony”.

Since his arrest, more than 1,100 people, including noted academics, historians, filmmakers, and rights activists, have signed a petition demanding the withdrawal of the summons and an apology from the commission.

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