SC seeks response from ex-Twitter India MD on UP's plea against Karnataka HC
Oct 22, 2021
New Delhi [India], October 22 : The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the former Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari on a plea of Uttar Pradesh government against the Karnataka High Court's decision to quash a notice issued to Maheshwari seeking his personal appearance as part of the probe into a communally sensitive video uploaded by a user on the micro-blogging site.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana issued notice to Maheshwari on Uttar Pradesh government's plea challenging High Court's order.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, questioned the jurisdiction of the Karnataka High Court order, which quashed the personal appearance notice to Maheshwari in a viral video case.
Mehta told the Bench that there is a question of law that needs court's examination. For the time being, ignore the reason why summon was issued, it was a 41A notice so there is no question of arrest, the question is the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court, he added.
The High Court had restrained UP police from taking coercive action against Maheshwari in connection with a probe related to the assault on an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad.
Twitter India head Manish Maheshwari was transferred to the United States (US) by Twitter in August this year.
The High Court had quashed the notice on July 23.
The Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) police had issued a notice under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on June 21 asking him to report at the Loni Border police station at 10:30 AM on June 24.
Manish Maheshwari then moved to the Karnataka High Court as at that time he lived in Bengaluru, Karnataka. On June 24, the High Court in an interim order restrained Ghaziabad police from initiating any coercive action against him.
The Ghaziabad Police on June 15 booked Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India Pvt Ltd (Twitter India), news website The Wire, journalists Mohammed Zubair and Rana Ayyub, besides Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Maskoor Usmani, Shama Mohamed and writer Saba Naqvi.
They were booked for the circulation of a video in which an elderly man, Abdul Shamad Saifi, alleged that he was thrashed by some young men, who also asked him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' on June 5.
