SC grants interim bail to Assam professor accused of uploading ‘pro-Pakistan’ social media posts

The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim bail to an Assam college professor accused of making “pro-Pakistan statements” on social media during tensions between India and Pakistan after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Live Law reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, however, emphasised that the order should not be construed as grounds for reinstating Joynal Abedin at the Gossaigaon College in Kokrajhar district, The Indian Express reported.

It noted that two cases have also been filed against him for having allegedly molested 12 students and women employees.

The court observed that the prosecution was yet to examine four witnesses in the case involving his social media posts and that completing the process would take time. Noting that Abedin had been in custody for six months, it ordered his release on interim bail, subject to furnishing bail bonds.

The April 22 attack at Baisaran near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir left 26 persons dead and 17 injured. Police said that the terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.

Amid the tensions that followed, Abedin had allegedly posted on social media: “We are with the brother of Pakistani citizens, we will be with them in future also,” The Indian Express reported.

He was subsequently suspended by the college and taken into custody.

Abedin first sought bail before a trial court in Kokrajhar, which rejected the plea as the case was still at the stage of framing charges.

His petition before the Assam High Court was also denied, with the court observing that the comments were made at a time when India's relationship with Pakistan was strained, Live Law reported.

“On a plain reading of the Facebook message, it is clear that at this juncture, the petitioner supports Pakistan, not his own country,” the High Court had said, adding that the professor had not complied with the directive principles of the Constitution.

Abedin then moved the Supreme Court, which was informed in November that two other first information reports had been filed against the former professor, one of them under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Live Law reported.

The bench was also told that he had previously made obscene posts targeting women and girls on social media.

In response, the Supreme Court had said that Abedin “was in the habit of harassing women on social media and making obscene remarks”.

“You are a perverted man and a threat to young girls in college,” The Indian Express quoted the bench as having said. “You are a shame to the word professor. You should not be allowed to enter the college.”

Source: Scroll
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