[Loni Assault Video] Supreme Court issues notice to Ex-twitter India Head in UP Govt’s plea challenging Karnataka HC’s protection order

A Supreme Court bench consisting of Chief Justice Ramana, Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kolhi issued notice in a petition filed by the State of Uttar Pradesh against the Karnataka HC order granting interim protection to Manish Maheshwari in the FIR registered over the videos posted on Twitter showing assault of a Muslim man in Ghaziabad.

Appearing for the State of UP, Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta argued that there exists question of law in the present case that that needed to be examined. He added that the issue of summons under section 41A (CRPC) was not within the jurisdiction of the Karnataka High Court.

A First Information Report was registered by Ghaziabad police over the tweets of a few journalists and politicians who shared the video of an on alleged incident where an elderly Muslim man being assaulted near Ghaziabad. The FIR alleges that the fake news was being shared on Twitter painting the attack as one being communal in nature.

The UP Police challenged the order of Karnataka HC restraining police from taking coercive action against Manish Maheshwari pursuant to the notice issued to him by Ghaziabad police.
The Karnataka High Court had quashed the FIR against Maheshwari terming it as a tool of harassment. The Karnataka HC had also passed an interim order protecting Maheshwari from coercive action, which is also under challenge before the Supreme Court.

It is to be noted that Maheshwari has been transferred to the US from India for reasons unknown.

Background-

An FIR had been filed against Alt News Co-Founder Mohammed Zubair, Rana Ayyub, Saba Naqvi, the Wire & congress leaders Shama Mohammed, Salam Nizami & Maskoor Usmani at 11:20 PM on June 15, 2021 at PS Loni Border under sections 153 (provoking riots), 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups), 295A (insulting religious beliefs), 505 (statements inducing public mischief) & 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy).

Twitter Inc. & Twitter Communications Pvt. Ltd. were also named in the FIR for failing to take down/flag the tweets.

Also, an FIR was filed against Manish Maheshwari at Bulandshahr in the wee hours of the night for the distorted and incorrect representation of the Indian Flag on its website, ANI reported. The managing director was been booked under Section 505(2) of Indian Penal Code and Section 74 of the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008.

Case title: State of Uttar Pradesh Vs Manish Maheshwari