The release on interim bail by the top court of Ashoka University assistant professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad came as a welcome relief, but his arrest itself on the basis of a couple of social media posts related to Operation Sindoor raised many questions about the condition of free speech and expression in India.

While granting him relief, the Supreme Court bench, led by Justice Surya Kant, came down hard on the academic, accusing him of ‘dog whistling’ and trying to garner cheap publicity. It has refused to stay the case, imposed an effective gag order on him, preventing him from commenting on the current Indo-Pakistan conflict or his case, impounded his passport and handed over further enquiry into his social media posts to a Special........

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