Uttar Pradesh Police defend move to issue notice to Twitter MD

Uttar Pradesh Police have insisted that Manish Maheshwari, the Managing Director of Twitter India attend the hearing in a case connected with a viral video of the attack on an elderly man in Ghaziabad.

Bengaluru (Karnataka): The Uttar Pradesh Police have defended their move to issue a notice to Twitter MD Manish Maheshwari, insisting he attend a hearing in connection with the investigation of an FIR related to a Ghaziabad video, which had stoked a controversy. On Wednesday, a single-judge bench of Justice GS Narender of the Karnataka High Court had heard a petition filed by the Twitter MD demanding the cancellation of a notice issued by the Loni Border Police in Ghaziabad. It is known that the Court in this regard had also put forward several questions to the UP Police.

Meanwhile, P Prasanna Kumar, a lawyer appearing for Uttar Pradesh Police, said that the incident had taken place at Loni Border Station in UP and hence a complaint was filed and notice sent under section 41 (a) of the CRPC on June 21, 2021, to the applicant's New Delhi address. "If the applicant is truly in fear of arrest by the Loni Border Police Station, he can seek anticipatory bail from the Allahabad High Court. However, he has applied to the Karnataka High Court, which shows maliciousness. The case interrogation will come under the Allahabad High Court, not the Karnataka High Court. According to Section 2 (W) of the IT Act, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidance and Digital Media Code) Rules -2021 may be subject to prosecution against Twitter INC and Twitter India, which are mediators in the case," Kumar added.

Read:UP govt moves SC challenging K'taka HC order granting protection to Twitter MD

On the other hand, senior advocate CV Nagesh appearing for the petitioner had objected to the written statement of the UP police. After hearing the arguments the court said that it will continue hearing the matter on July 8. The Karnataka HC Court prior to the hearing on Wednesday also came down heavily on media houses over the manner in which court proceedings were reported. "I want to make some observations about media or other platforms. Mr Nagesh (Appearing for petitioner), Mr Prasanna (Counsel for Uttar Pradesh Police), I want to express my unhappiness with how the media reports have come out. This is a word of caution, any use of language which is not correct will not be taken lightly," Justice Narender said.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government had moved the Supreme Court challenging the June 24th Karnataka High Court order, which granted protection from arrest to Twitter MD Manish Maheshwari in an FIR lodged by the Loni Police in Ghaziabad.

Read:Karnataka HC grants interim relief to Twitter chief