Brodie Mitchell, a 20 year-old student at Royal Holloway, University of London, has been told that police have submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), seeking advice over possible charges for a hate crime.

The case has led to a free speech row and calls for the CPS to drop the inquiry.

Mitchell, who describes himself as a non-Jewish Zionist, became involved in the confrontation at Royal Holloway’s freshers’ fair last September, after Huda El-Jamal, the President of the Friends of Palestine Society, allegedly described him as a “wannabe Jew” and asked why he was not wearing a Jewish yarmulke or kippah.

He responded by telling El-Jamal: “You’re wearing a tea towel on your head,” referring to her keffiyeh scarf. The scarf is a symbol of the Palestinian cause.

Mitchell was suspended from the university the next day for the duration of a nine-week investigation by Royal Holloway “for alleged conduct that could be considered hate speech”.

He is now taking the university to court over its decision to temporarily suspend him from his studies.

He will tell a three-day trial at the High Court, set to take place in June, that the disciplinary action taken by the university robbed him of the equivalent of seven weeks of teaching time, and that his degree would take longer to complete than other students’.

The police and the university have been criticised for “wasting” their time investigating the incident and threatening freedom of speech.

Lord Young of Acton, the General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, called the case “a deeply shocking story”.

He said: “An argument between two students has been blown out of all proportion by Royal Holloway. Brodie should never have been banned from campus and placed under investigation, let alone reported to the police.”

“What makes Royal Holloway’s actions particularly reprehensible is that Brodie was put through the wringer, while the student who insulted him got off scot-free.”

Robert Jenrick, of Reform UK, said: “There is no law against blasphemy in our country, and the dress codes of terror groups like Hamas are not immune from mockery.

“The public is rightly angry that the police never seem to have the time to help with crimes like burglaries or thefts, but waste time on nonsense like this. The CPS must immediately drop this case, and the Chief Constable needs to explain why he thought a months-long probe was a good use of his officers’ time.”

Mitchell described his police interview as “woke nonsense”, saying: “Nobody has a right not to be offended in this country. It’s free speech. It is not a hate crime.

“Criminally charged over a tea towel comment – that is absolutely crazy, and that should scare everybody.”

A spokesman for Surrey Police said: “We received a report of a hate crime, and an investigation is under way.”