Overview
- The state told a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant that sanction to prosecute Ali Khan Mahmudabad was refused on March 3, leading the court to end proceedings pending before the Sonepat magistrate.
- Additional solicitor general S. V. Raju relayed the decision as a one-time gesture and sought a warning, as the bench noted it expected the professor to act prudently in future public commentary.
- Mahmudabad was arrested in May 2025 over social media posts on Operation Sindoor that referenced praise for Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, and he was granted interim bail days later.
- The FIRs and chargesheet invoked Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions requiring prior government sanction, a prerequisite that stalled the trial until the state declined approval.
- Earlier, the Supreme Court formed an SIT, later criticized its overreach, quashed one FIR, and restrained the trial court in the other before recording the state’s refusal and closing the matter.