Mumbai: The Maharashtra government opposed the plea which sought to ban Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut's Twitter account permanently. The state government told the Bombay High Court that the petition was not maintainable.
Public Prosecutor Y. P. Yagnik said the demands made by petitioner Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh were unclear and therefore the petition should be dismissed.
In his criminal writ petition, advocate Deshmukh said that Kangana Ranaut's account should be permanently suspended or closed to stop the spread of hatred in the country through Twitter. The petitioner also said that guidelines and laws should be followed in the country to prevent misuse of a platform like Twitter.
He cited several controversial tweets by Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel about attempts to incite hatred against many people and the state system.
Deshmukh told the bench of Justices S S Shinde and M S Karnik that he had earlier asked the police and Maharashtra authorities to take action against Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel.
Deshmukh said, "Several FIRs are pending against Kangana Ranaut. Earlier, she had misused the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput for her own benefit and now she is using the issue of farmers.
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The judge sought to know if the petition was public interest litigation (PIL).
When Deshmukh said it was not, the judge said, "How can we take action in a criminal case on the basis of a third party claim which does not affect the individual in any way. Is this a public interest litigation? "
Prosecutor Yagnik argued that the petitioner's tweet did not disclose what effect it had on the public.
He said, 'This is a very vague petition. Twitter is an international organization. No one can make vague demands like this.
Prosecutor Yagnik said the argument was not valid and the court should make the right decision.
The HC, however, reiterated that in a criminal case, the court could not act at the instance of a third party.
It directed Deshmukh to "ponder" whether the issue should be raised through a PIL or the criminal writ petition should continue, and adjourned the matter to December 21.
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