Bengaluru: On Wednesday, the Karnataka High Court warned Facebook that it would not back away from issuing an order to close down the social media giant's activities in India, due to its alleged non-cooperation with the state's police regarding an investigation of the case of an imprisoned Indian citizen in Saudi Arabia.
Shailesh Kumar, 52, was working with a company in Saudi Arabia for 25 years while his wife, Kavitha, lived at her native place, Bikarnakatte near Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada district, with their children. In 2019, Shailesh Kumar had put up a message on Facebook in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), but unknown people opened a fake Facebook account in his name and posted objectionable posts against the King of Saudi Arabia and Islam.
Also read: UN chief calls for stemming online hate, bolstering social cohesion
As soon as it came to his knowledge, Kumar had informed the family and Kavitha had lodged a police complaint in Mangaluru in this regard. However, Saudi police arrested Shailesh Kumar and put him in prison. The Mangaluru police took up the investigation and wrote a letter to Facebook, seeking information on the opening of the fake Facebook account.
But, Facebook had not responded to the police. In 2021, the petitioner approached the High Court questioning delay in the investigation. Kavitha had also written a letter to the Central government to get her husband released from prison. A bench of Justice Krishna S. Dixit issued a warning to Facebook while taking up a petition submitted by Kavitha.
The warning issued by the bench stated "The complete report with required information should be submitted in a week before the court". The bench also said that the Central Government should also provide information on what action has been initiated in the case of the Indian citizen arrested in Saudi Arabia.
