Social media posts on Operation Sindoor: SC to hear plea of professor against arrest
New Delhi (PTI): 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.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the associate professor, and said the pleas will be listed for hearing either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
“He has been arrested for a patriotic statement. Please list it during the day,” Sibal said.
“Please list it tomorrow or day after,” the CJI said.
The professor 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.
The Haryana State Commission for Women had recently sent a notice to the associate professor questioning his remarks, though Mahmudabad had maintained that they were "misunderstood" and asserted that he had exercised his fundamental right to freedom of speech.
Haryana Deputy Commissioner of Police Narender Kadyan said two FIRs were lodged at the Rai police station in Sonipat -- one based on a complaint from the chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women, Renu Bhatia, and the other on the complaint of a village sarpanch.
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Cong performed better in Kerala, anti-incumbency trends influenced WB, TN: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the Congress had largely met or exceeded expectations in several States, even as results in some regions reflected shifting voter sentiments.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the party accepted the mandate in Assam while performing better than anticipated in Kerala.
He also pointed to possible anti-incumbency trends influencing outcomes in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
“In Assam, we got the expected result, and we accept the people’s mandate. In Kerala, we have won more seats than expected. We anticipated around 76 to 80, but we have gone up to around 95,” Siddaramaiah said.
In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, there may have been an anti-incumbency trend, and that could have influenced the results, he added.
Siddaramaiah also extended his congratulations to a new political entrant in Tamil Nadu, noting the emergence of a different electoral dynamic in the State.
“I congratulate the new entrant who has achieved success there,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said electoral outcomes in some States had diverged from the party’s internal assessments, reflecting evolving voter expectations.
“We expected a certain trend, but the results have been different. Political reading was wrong in some places,” he said.
“People were looking for change in some States, and that has been reflected in the results,” Shivakumar, who is also the Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
Referring to Kerala, he said the Congress-led alliance had benefited from public sentiment.
“There was already an expectation based on local body elections, and people had shown confidence in us. That has translated into a strong result,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
On Tamil Nadu, he acknowledged that the scale of political shift had come as a surprise.
“We expected to secure around 30 to 40 per cent of the vote share, but such a major shift was not anticipated. It shows that voter expectations were different,” he said.
Shivakumar added that electoral outcomes underscored the need for better political assessment in future.
“We have to understand these changes carefully. Political reading cannot go wrong like this,” he said.
