Ghaziabad Video : Karnataka High Court To Hear Twitter MD's Challenge Against UP Police Notice On July 5
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday adjourned to July 5 the hearing of the writ petition filed by Twitter India's Managing Director Manish Maheshwari challenging the notice issued by Uttar Pradesh Police under Section 41A CrPC asking him to appear for investigation in the FIR related to Ghaziabad video.A single bench of Justice G Narender adjourned the hearing at the request made by...
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday adjourned to July 5 the hearing of the writ petition filed by Twitter India's Managing Director Manish Maheshwari challenging the notice issued by Uttar Pradesh Police under Section 41A CrPC asking him to appear for investigation in the FIR related to Ghaziabad video.
A single bench of Justice G Narender adjourned the hearing at the request made by Advocate Prasanna Kumar on behalf of UP Police.
On June 24 , the Court had passed an interim order restraining Uttar Pradesh police from taking coercive action against Manish Maheshwari pursuant to the notice issued to him under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the Ghaziabad FIR. The Court had however permitted the police to record his statement through virtual mode.
The Twitter employee was asked by the UP Police to appear before Loni Border Police Station in relation to the investigation on the Ghaziabad video issue.
In a related development, the UP Police has approached the Supreme Court challenging the interim order.
In the last week's hearing, Senior Advocate Nagesh, appearing for the Twitter MD, had argued that he had no control over the video of the Ghaziabad incident being shared in Twitter by certain journalists and politicians. He also argued that Manish Maheshwari was in charge of the revenue division of Twitter Communications India Private Ltd (TCIPL) and was only "Managing Director" by designation. He does not control the content shared by Twitter users. It was contended that he was not a member of the Board of Directors of TCIPL and hence was not the "Managing Director" in the statutory sense.Background
The FIR was registered over the tweets made by few journalists and politicians about the incident of an elderly Muslim man getting assaulted near Ghaziabad. It was alleged in the FIR that fake news was shared in Twitter that the attack was communal in nature.
The FIR was in the backdrop of an elderly Muslim man's claim in a video that his beard was cut off, and he was forced to chant "Vande Mataram" and "Jai Shri Ram". However, later on, the Uttar Pradesh Police ruled out any "communal angle" and said that Sufi Abdul Samad, the elderly man, was attacked by six men, as they were unhappy over the tabeez (amulets) he had sold them. It mentions offences punishable under Sections 153 (provoking to cause riots), 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups), 295A (insulting religious beliefs), 505 (statements inducing public mischief) & 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Last week, the High Court had issued notice on the transit anticipatory bail application filed by Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of fact-checking portal 'AltNews', seeking protection in the FIR. In the Section 41A notice served on Zubari, the UP Police had stated that they were not intending to arrest him.
Journalist Rana Ayyub, another accused named in the FIR, was granted 4-week transit anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court on June 21.