Haryana Refuses Sanction To Prosecute Professor For Social Media Posts On Operation Sindoor
State government closes case against Ashoka University’s Ali Khan Mahmudabad, citing “one-time magnanimity.”
New Delhi, Mar 16: The Haryana government informed the Supreme Court on Monday that it will not grant sanction to prosecute Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who faced legal action over his social media posts on Operation Sindoor.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the state, told a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that the government has decided to show “one-time magnanimity” and close the matter.
“Showing one-time magnanimity, we have closed the issue and have refused to grant sanction,” Raju said.
The bench observed that since Haryana has not authorized prosecution, the trial court proceedings concerning Mahmudabad will now be closed.
Mahmudabad, who was arrested on May 18, 2025, faced FIRs alleging that his posts endangered India’s sovereignty and integrity. The FIRs were lodged by Rai police in Sonipat district one following a complaint by Haryana State Commission for Women chairperson Renu Bhatia, and another from a village sarpanch.
He was charged under sections 152 (acts endangering sovereignty), 353 (statements leading to public mischief), 79 (deliberate insult to modesty of a woman), and 196(1) (promoting enmity between groups on religious grounds) of the BNS Act.
The Supreme Court had previously restrained the trial court from acting on the chargesheet filed in August 2025, noting that no government sanction had been granted. Several political parties and academics had criticized the professor’s arrest.
With the Haryana government declining prosecution, the case against Mahmudabad is now formally closed, marking a rare instance of state leniency in such matters.
