Ashoka University Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad sent to 14-day judicial custody after Sonipat court denies police remand

A Sonipat court on Tuesday, May 20, sent Ali Khan Mahmudabad – head of Ashoka University's political science department – to judicial custody till May 27 over his social media posts related to Operation Sindoor. The court rejected the police's request for a seven-day remand and sent him to judicial custody.

One of Ali Khan Mahmudabad's lawyers, Kapil Balyan, said that the associate professor was produced before a court in Sonipat this afternoon after the expiry of his two-day police remand.

“The police sought an extension of his remand by seven days. During the arguments, we opposed the extension of the police remand... The court has sent him to judicial custody till May 27,” Kapil Balyan said.

Ali Khan Mahmudabad was arrested by the Haryana Police on Sunday, May 18, after two FIRs were registered against him over his social media post on Operation Sindoor. The FIRs alleged that his social media post endangered the sovereignty and integrity of the country.

The FIRs were lodged at the Rai police station in Sonipat district – one based on a complaint by the chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women, Renu Bhatia, and the other on a complaint by a village sarpanch.

His arrest has drawn criticism from the Opposition.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram posted on X, “I have read and re-read the entire tweet of Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad. Which portion of the statement did Haryana Police find objectionable and violative of law? Will someone from Haryana Police please enlighten us?”

Pawan Khera, in a long post, criticised the academic's arrest for a “thoughtful” post against violence as he highlighted that some BJP ministers have faced no action for “demeaning” the armed forces, terming it as the ruling government's “double standards”.

Pawan Khera said when “writers, professors and critics are branded enemies, the real enemy is democracy itself.”

“A historian and academic is jailed not for inciting violence but for advocating against it. His crime? Daring to speak truth to power, exposing the BJP’s cynical communal narrative, and calling out the hypocrisy of chest-thumping nationalism. Meanwhile, the BJP minister and their deputy CM face no action after openly demeaning the armed forces. No FIRs. No arrests. That’s the double standard of Modi’s governance.”

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, too, criticised Ali Khan Mahmudabad's arrest. In a post on X, Akhilesh Yadav said, “Hukmaraanon kee badazubaanee par bhee aazaadee, aur kisee kee sach kahane par giraftaaree [Rough translation: Freedom even when rulers speak foul language, And arrest of someone for speaking the truth]”

(With agency inputs)