India Supreme Court Rebukes Haryana SIT, Narrows Probe Into Ashoka Professor

The Supreme Court on 16 July sharply criticised the Haryana Police Special Investigation Team for overreaching in its probe of Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was arrested over social-media commentary on the military action dubbed “Operation Sindoor.” A two-judge bench said the SIT had “misdirected itself” by seizing Mahmudabad’s electronic devices and other materials. The court instructed investigators to confine their inquiry to two specific posts, barred them from widening the case, and ordered that the investigation be completed within four weeks. The justices also relaxed earlier bail conditions that effectively gagged the historian from publishing. Mahmudabad remains prohibited from commenting online on the India-Pakistan conflict, which the court deemed sub judice, but is otherwise free to write and express opinions on other subjects.