Karnataka High Court to pass order in plea by Twitter India MD on July 13

The Karnataka High Court (HC) will pass an order on July 13 in a petition filed by Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari, which challenges the jurisdiction of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police in summoning him for interrogation in person.

A single judge bench of Justice G Narendar, on Friday, asked senior counsel CV Nagesh, appearing on behalf of Maheshwari, to furnish a summary of his submission to the court by July 12. The order will be passed the following day.

Maheshwari has sought the quashing of a notice issued by UP police seeking his physical presence in connection with a case registered for uploading and circulating a “communal sensitive” video on the platform.

His counsel C V Nagesh contended that the notice under Section 41 – A of the CrPC – was issued “without jurisdiction, without the sanction of law.”

He claimed that the first notice was issued on June 17 under Section 160 of the CrPC.

The legal obligation under Section 160 of the CrPC is based upon a person who resides at a place located within the territorial jurisdiction of the police station where the crime is registered, the counsel argued.

After the notice under Section 160 was issued, Maheshwari told investigators that he did not know anything about the issue, Nagesh said. He added that even if Maheshwari appeared before them in person, the reply would be the same.

The Twitter MD resides in Bengaluru and his office is located in the city, Nagesh pointed out. Maheshwari had earlier indicated that he was prepared to cooperate with the investigation through video conference.

Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) police issued the notice under Section 41-A of the CrPC on June 21 asking him to report to the Loni Border police station at 10.30 AM on June 24.

Maheshwari then approached the Karnataka High Court as he lives in Bengaluru in Karnataka.

On June 24, the High Court, in an interim order, restrained the Ghaziabad police from initiating any coercive action against him.

Justice Narendar also maintained that if the police wanted to examine him, they could do so through virtual mode.
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 over the circulation of a video in which an elderly man, Abdul Shamad Saifi, alleges he was thrashed by some young men who also asked him to chant ”Jai Shri Ram” on June five.

According to police, the video was shared to cause communal unrest. Business Today