UP government reaches Supreme Court against Twitter, challenges Karnataka High Court order
- Karnataka High Court grants Twitter MD protection from arrest
- Twitter’s request to appear via video conferencing rejected
The Uttar Pradesh government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court order that granted protection to Twitter MD Manish Maheshwari from arrest in a case related to a viral video of an attack on an elderly man in Ghaziabad. .
Karnataka High Court grants Twitter MD protection from arrest
The Karnataka High Court granted protection to Maheshwari in an FIR lodged by the Loni police in Ghaziabad on June 24. Meanwhile, Maheshwari has also filed a caveat, seeking an opportunity to present her case before any order is passed by the apex court.
The Ghaziabad police had issued a notice to Maheshwari asking her to appear before the Loni police station for questioning in the investigation related to the viral video of an attack on an elderly Muslim man.
The matter pertains to the circulation of a video in which elderly Abdul Shamad Saifi said that he was allegedly beaten up by some youths who forced him to chant Jai Shri Ram on June 5. The police claimed that the video was shared to incite communal discontent.
Twitter’s request to appear via video conferencing rejected
On June 15, the Ghaziabad police registered a case against Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, a news website, journalists Mohammad Zubair and Rana Ayyub, besides Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Muskoor Usmani, Shama Mohammad and author Saba Naqvi.
The police had rejected the request of Twitter India officials to conduct inquiries through video conferencing.
According to the police, the accused were unhappy with the talisman sold by Saifi, a resident of Bulandshahr district, and denied giving any communal angle in the matter. The Ghaziabad Police had issued a statement with the facts of the incident, yet the accused did not remove the video from their Twitter handle.
Saifi allegedly claimed that she was attacked by some youths and forced to chant Jai Shri Ram. But the police said that Saifi has not made any such allegation in her FIR lodged on June 7.
