Twitter vs UP Police: Karnataka HC adjourns proceedings

Chennai: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday adjourned to July 5, the proceedings in a matter pertaining to Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari and the Ghaziabad police, which had summoned him in a probe related to the assault of an elderly Muslim man in the UP town recently.

Advocate P Prasanna Kumar, who appeared for the Uttar Pradesh police, sought adjournment following which the single bench of Justice G Narendar who is hearing the matter posted it for July 5.

Maheshwari, who lives in Bengaluru in Karnataka, was issued notice by the Ghaziabad Police earlier, asking him to report at its Loni Border police station on June 24 to get his statement recorded in the case, following which he moved the High Court here seeking relief.

The court had then restrained the Ghaziabad police from initiating any coercive action against him.

Justice Narendar had also maintained if the police wanted to examine Maheshwari, they could do so through virtual mode.

In a video clip, which surfaced on social media on June 14, the elderly Muslim man, Abdul Shamad Saifi, alleged he was thrashed by some young men and asked to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram.’

The Ghaziabad Police had on June 15 lodged an FIR against Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, news website The Wire, journalists Mohammad Zubair and Rana Ayyub, Congress’ Salman Nizami, Masqoor Usmani, Dr Sama Mohammad and writer Saba Naqvi for sharing the clip.

The police, who had ruled out the communal angle in the incident, claimed the video was shared to cause communal unrest.