Prof Mahmudabad case | You don't need him, you need a dictionary, SC slams Haryana SIT

The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi told SIT that they had been formed specifically to investigate the two social media posts and asked why it was expanding the scope.

“You don’t need him, you need a dictionary,” Justice Kant caustically told the SIT, questioning why the probe into Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad's social media posts was being misdirected. Noting that the petitioner has cooperated with the investigation and surrendered his devices, the Court directed that he should not be summoned again.

The probe must be completed within four weeks, strictly limited to the language and content of the two Facebook posts related to the violence in Pahalgam, the court said.

Not a broader inquiry

The Court stressed that the investigation must remain confined to the contents of the two FIRs alone and not turn into a broader inquiry.

Also read: Bail to Mahmudabad: 'SC remarks could have chilling effect on free expression'

The SIT had been specifically set up to unpack the true meaning of the Professor’s social media posts and to figure out if they constituted any offence, the bench pointed out. Why were the petitioner's devices then seized? the bench asked.

“We just want to know from SIT…for what purpose they have seized the devices? We will call them (officers), Justice Kant told additional solicitor general S V Raju, who was representing the state, according to a LiveLaw report.

“We are asking why the state is misdirecting itself. They were supposed to examine the contents of the post,” he observed. The Court stressed that the SIT was set up specifically to examine whether any offence was made out from the phrasing used in the posts—not to launch a roving inquiry.

Court's other key directions

Further, the court also said that Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad is free to write articles and social media posts, except on the sub judice matter. The Court clarified that its earlier orders did not restrict his expression.

Also read: Why the right wing detests Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad and his ilk

The court also emphasised that the SIT must not summon him again for questioning. The Court noted that the petitioner has already joined the investigation and his devices have been examined.

Moreover, the interim protection from arrest granted to Mahmudabad will continue.

Arrest and SIT

Professor Mahmudabad was arrested on May 18 after an FIR was lodged by Haryana police over his social media posts and he remained in custody until May 21, when he was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court.

On May 21, the court granted interimbail to Mahmudabad even as they directed the Haryana DGP to constitute a special investigation team to "holistically understand the complexity of the phraseology employed and for proper appreciation of some of the expressions used in these two online posts.”

Later, Mahmudabad's counsels raised an apprehension that the SIT constituted by the state may investigate aspects beyond the subject of FIRs.

Also read: No curbs on Ashoka prof’s freedom of speech, but can't comment on cases: SC

This led to the Supreme Court to clarify that the SIT probe shall be limited to the two FIRs lodged against Mahmudabad and cannot be expanded. Seeking access to Mahmudabad's digital devices was also ruled out by the authorities.

Mahmudabad is facing offences under Section 196, 152 etc., of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, inter-alia, pertaining to acts prejudicial to maintaining communal harmony, making assertions likely to cause disharmony, acts endangering national sovereignty and words or gestures intended to insult a woman's modesty.