Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, previously booked for social media posts, has petitioned the Supreme Court for the release of his passport, a condition of his bail. The court will consider the plea on November 18.
Students at Ashoka University in Haryana are protesting against new security measures, including vehicle checks and prohibition on carrying cigarettes and alcohol on campus. The new protocols, reportedly outlined in a January 13 email by the varsity's Vice President of Operations, also include shifting student movement to another gate and submitting students to pocket checks. Students have criticised the measures as invasive and an overreach of authorities, demanding a roll-back.
The Supreme Court of India has extended the interim bail of Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was arrested for contentious social media posts on Operation Sindoor. The court, however, restrained him from posting anything online with respect to the cases against him, stating that there was no impediment on his right to speech and expression. The court directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to furnish the investigation report on the next date of hearing.
Ashoka Univeristy associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad has been arrested for his social media post on Operation Sindoor, police said in Sonipat on Sunday.
In a strong counter to the narrative building around reasons for the exit of Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Ashoka University Chancellor Rudrangshu Mukherjee has said the institution remains committed to academic freedom and intellectual independence while its Board of Trustee Chairman Ashish Dhawan promised an open line of communication.
Ashoka University co-founders Vineet Gupta and Pranav Gupta, who were booked last week by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a Rs 1,600 crore fraud case, on Thursday stepped down from all boards and committees of the varsity.
Free speech is the soul of a great university. By compromising on it, the founders have bartered away its soul, said Rajan.
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Two days after political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta resigned as a professor from the Ashoka University, his colleague, economist Arvind Subramanian, put in his papers on Thursday and faculty members wrote to the vice chancellor expressing their deep anguish.
Mahmudabad, head of the political science department at the private university, was arrested on Sunday after two FIRs were lodged on stringent charges, including endangering sovereignty and integrity, for his social media posts related to Operation Sindoor, police and his lawyer said.
The faculty members have noted that Mehta's resignation is a "matter of great anguish".
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea of Ashoka University's political science department head Ali Khan Mahmudabad challenging his arrest for social media posts related to Operation Sindoor.
The bench, which examined the online post by the professor, who heads the political science department in the Sonipat-based Ashoka University, questioned his choice of words, saying they were used deliberately to humiliate, insult, or put others in discomfort. "The choice of words are deliberately made to insult, humiliate or cause discomfort to others. The professor, who is a learned person cannot lack a dictionary... he could have conveyed the very same feelings in a simple language without hurting others. He should have shown respect for the sentiments of others. He could have used a simple and neutral kind of language, respecting others," Justice Kant said.
The students claimed that Ashoka University, based in Haryana's Sonipat, has research partnerships with Tel Aviv University, ongoing faculty visits for teaching, student mobility (outbound and inbound), research collaboration, short-term study opportunities as well as joint programmes.
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The Supreme Court has questioned the line of investigation adopted by the Haryana SIT in the case of an Ashoka University professor booked for social media posts, stating that it "misdirected itself."
Balakrishnan, a full professor in the economics department who joined the private university in 2015, on Saturday wrote to Ashoka University Chancellor Rudrangshu Mukherjee and board of trustees chairperson Pramath Raj Sinha explaining his reasons for his resignation.
Das had claimed that the alleged electoral manipulation by the BJP also appeared to have taken the form of targeted electoral discrimination against Muslims, "partly facilitated by weak monitoring by election observers."
Acting on the Supreme Court's direction, Haryana's Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate two FIRs against Ashoka University associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad. The SIT, headed by Additional Director General of Police (Crime) Mamta Singh, will include Superintendent of Police (Karnal) Ganga Ram Punia and Superintendent of Police (STF, Gurugram) Vikrant Bhushan. The SIT will expeditiously complete the investigation and submit a report at the earliest. Mahmudabad was arrested on May 18 for his social media posts on Operation Sindoor, which were alleged to have endangered the sovereignty and integrity of the country. The Supreme Court granted him interim bail on Thursday, but refused to stay the investigation.
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A group of faculty members of Ashoka University has written to its vice chancellor claiming that free thought within universities in India is in crisis today and demanded that all decisions on matters related to academic freedom should be put on hold till the promised committee for academic freedom is in place.
The Supreme Court would likely hear on Wednesday a plea of Ashoka University's faculty Ali Khan Mahmudabad against his arrest for his social media posts over Operation Sindoor.
The university in Haryana's Sonipat became the centre of a controversy earlier this week, when Mehta, who had resigned as its vice chancellor two years back, chose to step down as professor, saying that the founders made it "abundantly clear" that his association with the institution was a "political liability".
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An operation was underway to find if more people were involved in espionage against India and several YouTube channels were under scrutiny, a top Haryana official said on Tuesday after five, including a Youtuber, were nabbed from the state for spying.
A court in Sonipat on Tuesday remanded in judicial custody till May 27 Ali Khan Mahmudabad, the head of Ashoka University's political science department who was arrested for his social media posts related to Operation Sindoor, his lawyer said.
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India needs a 1,000 more Ashoka universities, Naukri.com Founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani tells Anjuli Bhargava.
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