New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a notice to former Twitter India head Manish Maheshwari over a plea of the Uttar Pradesh government against a Karnataka High Court order, according to news agency ANI. The order had set aside an Uttar Pradesh police notice seeking Maheshwari’s appearance for a probe into a communally sensitive video uploaded by a user on the micro-blogging site.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana issued the notice. On June 16, an FIR was filed over a widely shared video showing an elderly man Abdul Samad being assaulted and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram” near Delhi for which the former Managing Director of the social media website was summoned by the UP Police for questioning after an FIR was filed against Twitter India and eight others.
The UP Police alleged that the man was beaten up by people, Hindu and Muslim, known to him over amulets he sold and claimed that fake news was being spread to disturb communal harmony. Mr Maheshwari was charged with intent to riot, promoting enmity, and criminal conspiracy.
On June 24, the Karnataka HC granted him temporary protection from arrest and said that the UP Police could not take “coercive action” against him. Maheshwari, a resident of Bengaluru, had told the Karnataka HC that he had made himself available for questioning via video conferencing but the police had turned it down and insisted that he appear in person. He said he was ready to appear before the UP Police if they provided an undertaking that he would not be arrested.
“If UP Police gives an undertaking to the court that they will not arrest me, I am ready to appear before the police in Ghaziabad within 24 hours,” his lawyer had said.
The UP police then approached the top court to challenge the order. Maheshwari had also approached the court asking them to hear his side before passing any orders on UP Police’s appeal.
Appearing for the UP government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that there’s a question of law that needed examination. “For the time being, ignore the reason why summon was issued. It was a 41A notice so there’s no question of arrest etc. The question is the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court,” he submitted before the court.
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