Supreme Court Quashes Case Against Professor Mahmudabad

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday quashed criminal proceedings against Ali Khan Mahmudabad, a professor at Ashoka University, after the Haryana government decided against granting sanction for his prosecution in a case stemming from his social media comments on Operation Sindoor, India's military response to a terrorist attack in Pahalgam.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi recorded the state's decision during the hearing. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing Haryana, informed the court that the government had chosen not to pursue the case as a one-time act of magnanimity. "As a one-time magnanimity, we have closed the issue by not according sanction," Raju said, adding that Mahmudabad could be warned against similar actions in the future.

The bench accepted the submission and directed that all pending proceedings in the trial court be closed. "We have no reason to doubt that the petitioner is a highly learned professor and a domain expert, and he will act in a prudent manner in future," the court observed. Chief Justice Kant remarked, "Sometimes, the writing in between the lines creates more problems. Sometimes, the...