Acting on the Supreme Court's directive, Haryana Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur on Thursday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the two FIRs filed against Ashoka University associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad.
Although the Sonipat court had earlier remanded Mahmudabad to judicial custody, he was released on Thursday after being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court. However, the court did not stay the ongoing investigation.
The SIT will be led by Additional Director General of Police (Crime) Mamta Singh, with Superintendent of Police (Karnal) Ganga Ram Punia and Superintendent of Police (STF, Gurugram) Vikrant Bhushan serving as its members. Singh is also the commissioner of the Sonipat Police.
Mahmudabad, who heads the Political Science Department at Ashoka University, was arrested by the Haryana Police on May 18 in connection with his social media posts related to Operation Sindoor.
While the Supreme Court granted him interim bail on Wednesday, it declined to halt the ongoing investigation. "He was released on interim bail on Thursday after the jail authorities in Sonipat received the release warrants," said Kapil Balyan, one of Mahmudabad's lawyers in Sonipat.
As per Kapur’s directive, issued in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Singh has been formed to investigate the FIRs registered on May 17 and 18 against Mahmudabad at Rai police station.
The SIT has been instructed to complete the investigation promptly and submit a report under Section 193 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, at the earliest, the order stated.
On Wednesday, a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh directed the Haryana director general of police to constitute a three-member SIT headed by an inspector general-rank officer, also including a superintendent-rank woman officer, within 24 hours to investigate the case.
"Having regard to the contents of the two alleged offending posts uploaded on social media, which have led to the registration of two FIRs against the petitioner, we are satisfied that no case for staying the investigation is made out," the bench had said.
The top court had ordered, "However, to holistically understand the complexity of the phraseology employed and for proper appreciation of some of the expressions used in these two online posts, we direct the director general of police, Haryana, to constitute an SIT comprising three directly recruited IPS officers, who do not belong to the states of Haryana or Delhi." Mahmudabad was arrested after two FIRs were registered against him, alleging his social media posts on Operation Sindoor endangered the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
The two FIRs -- one based on a complaint by Haryana State Commission for Women Chairperson Renu Bhatia and the other on a complaint by a village sarpanch -- were lodged at Rai police station in Sonipat district.
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