The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to former Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari on a plea by the UP government seeking his appearance for questioning in connection to a probe into a communally sensitive video. The UP police had moved the top court after the Karnataka high court order had quashed a notice against former Twitter India head,
Appearing on behlf of the government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that there was a question of law that needed examination and for the time being ignore the reason why summon was issued. Mehta added the question is about the territorial jurisdiction of the high court. The bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said: “We will issue notice…will hear the matter in detail.”
The court further asked senior advocates AM Singhvi and Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Maheshwari, to accept the notice. “We have to hear the notice,” the CJI said.
Mr Maheshwari was summoned by the UP Police for questioning after an FIR was filed against Twitter India and eight others on June 16 over a widely shared video pertaining to the alleged assault of a Muslim man in Loni Ghaziabad. Following this, Maheshwari offered to join the investigation through video conference for the time being and assured of his cooperation with the police. On June 21, the Ghaziabad Police issued fresh summons to Twitter India and was asked to report at Loni Border police station at 10:30 am on June 24. Maheshwari then approached the Karnataka High Court questioning the legal standing of this notice. Subsequently, The Karnataka HC granted him temporary protection from arrest on June 24 and said that the UP Police could not take “coercive action” against him.
In August, Maheshwari was transferred to Twitter’s San Francisco office and assigned a new role as Senior Director, Revenue Strategy and Operations focused on New Market Entry”.
