The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday, July 6, slammed Uttar Pradesh police for not ascertaining basic facts in connection with an FIR against Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari. UP police had registered a case against Twitter India MD and others for allegedly spreading false information using a video and also triggering communal tension. The FIR also names The Wire, journalists Mohammed Zubair, Rana Ayyub, author Saba Naqvi, Congress politicians Salman Nizami, Maskoor Usmani and Shama Mohamed as accused in the case.
According to Live Law, Justice G Narender observed that a “doctored video” was uploaded on Twitter but Twitter India may not be involved in the matter at all. The judge questioned if UP police had figured if Twitter India can control content on the platform as against Twitter Inc. Bar and Bench reported that the judge observed that there is no case against Maheshwari unless UP Police establishes that Maheshwari was the one who uploaded the content or he did not take it down when asked to, by the authorities. The video in question had reportedly showed an elderly Mulsim man stating he was attacked and forced him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'.
These observations from the bench on Tuesday came as CV Nagesh, senior counsel for Maheshwari, informed the court that Twitter India or its employees have no control over the content uploaded on the popular social media platform. He also informed that although the High Court had allowed questioning Maheshwari via video conferencing, UP police did not pursue questioning him.
It may be recalled that Maheshwari was recently granted relief by the High Court from summons by UP Police in connection with the case involving a video shared on the platform. As part of the relief, the HC granted UP Police permission to interrogate him in virtual mode. As part of the proceedings, the court was told that UP Police had first identified him as a witness in the case under Section 160 CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code). But just two days following that, he was issued summons under Section 41A of the CrPC (notice for appearance before a police officer).