'You Don't Need Him, You Need a Dictionary': Supreme Court Chastises Mahmudabad SIT
New Delhi: The Supreme Court asked today (July 16) why the special investigation team constituted to investigate the two first information reports against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad's social media posts was "misdirecting itself".
Mahmudabad was arrested on May 18 and slapped with charges that point to sedition, after the Haryana state women's commission chief and a Bharatiya Janata Party worker filed police complaints against his social media posts on Operation Sindoor. In the posts, Mahmudabad had called for peace and noted how the optics of religious unity in two women soldiers of two religions presenting findings on India's military efforts should also translate to reality on the ground.
On May 21, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail to Mahmudabad. That bench led by Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justice N.K. Singh formed an SIT to investigate the social media posts. In extraordinary move, the bench had also said that if the students and professors, ostensibly of Ashoka University, “dare to do anything, we will not accept this, if they try to join hands etc, we know how to deal with these people, they are within our jurisdiction.”
On May 28, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta restricted the scope of the SIT's probe, saying that it should be limited to the two first information reports alone.
Today, according to LiveLaw, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked the SIT why it was expanding its scope.
The bench asked this after Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing for Mahmudabad, said that the SIT had seized his devices and was asking him about foreign trips he had undertaken for the last 10 years.
"We just want to know from SIT...for what purpose they have seized devices? We will call them," Justice Kant asked Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, who was representing the government.
The bench asked why the SIT, on the face of it, was "misdirecting itself."
"They were supposed to examine contents of the posts," Justice Kant said.
Sibal noted that Mahmudabad had been summoned no fewer than four times. The SIT's preliminary report said that Mahmudabad had cooperated with the investigation at every stage.
The court said that he should not be summoned again.
"You don't require him [Mahmudabad], you require a dictionary," Justice Kant said.
The court also directed the SIT to conclude the investigation within four weeks.
The bench also said that the conditions imposed while granting interim bail only restrained Mahmudabad from commenting on sub-judice issues and the he was free to write or express opinions on other topics.
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