Supreme Court extends Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad's interim bail till July 3rd week

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Wednesday extended till July third week the interim bail granted to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who had been arrested for alleged objectionable social media posts during Operation Sindoor. However, the court declined to relax the condition gagging him on issues relating to two FIRs against him that SIT is probing, saying, "We do not want him to run a parallel commentary on the issues under investigation".The court asked SIT to confine its probe to these issues after Mahmudabad's lawyer feared that its ambit may be expanded. "Why do you have to go left and right... Where's the need to check the devices (of Mahmudabad)? Don't try to expand the scope of the two FIRs... SIT is free to form its opinion, but do not deviate from the task," SC said and posted the hearing in July second week.Apex court asks SIT to submit a copy of investigation report Appearing for Mahmudabad, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Sidharth Luthra repeatedly pleaded with a partial working day bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta for relaxation of the 'gag order' while promising that the Oxford educated professor would not indulge in the kind of writing which attracted two FIRs and which the bench had called "dog whistling" during the last hearing.Sibal repeated his request several times. "Mahmudabad will not write anything relating to the issues involved in the two FIRs. Let that condition be deleted from the May 21 order by which the petitioner was granted interim bail. He is a mature person and Oxford educated. This is my earnest request. He knows where he landed because of the writings. I am beseeching you to delete the condition as it does not look nice," he said.He failed to persuade the bench, which said, "He needs to wait for some time. You (Sibal) remind us of this during the next hearing. The condition is confined to the contents of the FIRs. We do not want him to run a parallel commentary on the issues under investigation."Haryana's additional advocate general told the court that the SIT, comprising three IPS officers - ADGP Mamta Singh, SP (Karnal) Ganga Ram Punia and SP (STF, Gurgaon) Vikrant Bhushan - has been constituted and the investigation was on track. SC asked the SIT to submit to it a copy of the probe report after filing it before the jurisdictional court.