UP: Professor Booked For Making Derogatory Remarks Against Smriti Irani

Shaharyar Ali, a professor at SRK college, made derogatory remarks against Union Minister Smriti Irani on Facebook. He surrendered to Additional Sessions Judge Anurag Kumar in a court in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad. He filed an interim bail application on Tuesday which was cancelled following which he was put behind the bars. Professor arrested for derogatory remarks against Smriti Irani

Who is Shaharyar Ali?

Shaharyar Ali is the head of the History department at SRK College.  As per a report, he was booked for putting an alleged obscene Facebook post against the Women and Child Development Minister in March. SRK College had then served him with a suspension notice.

The Supreme Court declined his request to grant protection from arrest to Shaharyar Ali.

Allahabad High Court also rejected an anticipatory bail plea filed by the professor in May. He also tried to convince the authorities by saying that his account was hacked and he issued an apology after getting to know about the obscene post but his efforts were in vain.

This is not the first when a professor has been reprimanded for allegedly demeaning or targetting a particular person or community. In May, a case against Associate Professor Seema Singh teaching in IIT Kharagpur was filed. Reason? She was caught on camera hurling derogatory remarks against Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe students.  Read more about the case here.

Shilpa Singh, an assistant professor at a law college in Goa, was booked for a Facebook post last year in November. Singh had mocked Hindu religion and its practices by comparing “mangalsutra” to a “chained dog”. She had mentioned that  she had been curious around why we have exclusive marital status symbols for women and not for the men in various cultures practices. Read more about the case here.

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