Why Ashoka University professor’s arrest has no legal basis

Endangering India’s sovereignty and unity, causing disharmony between religious communities, outraging religious feelings – Haryana Police invoked a wide sweep of legal provisions on Sunday morning to arrest academic Ali Khan Mahmudabad for a social media post. Later in the day, he was charged with insulting the modesty of women and remanded to two-day police custody.

However, none of his remarks meet the definitional requirements of these provisions, Scroll’s analysis shows.

In a Facebook post on May 8, Mahmudabad, an associate professor at Ashoka University, had highlighted the irony of Hindutva commentators praising Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had represented the Army during media briefings on Operation Sindoor, India’s military offensive against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

“Perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens,” he had said.

Ten days later, the police in BJP-ruled Haryana arrested him under two first information reports. One is based on a complaint by Yogesh Jathedi, a BJP Yuva Morcha leader who is also the sarpanch of a village near Ashoka University in Sonipat. The other is based on a complaint by Renu Bhatia, the chairperson of the Haryana...

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