Ghaziabad assault case: SC issues notice to former Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from then Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari on a plea by the Uttar Pradesh government against quashing of personal appearance notice in a viral video case.

The state government led by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta questioned the jurisdiction of the Karnataka High Court to quash the notice issued to Maheshwari by Ghaziabad police for probe into circulation of the video wherein a Muslim man claimed to have been beaten up and asked to chant "Jai Shri Ram". The police claimed the video was made viral to cause communal unrest.

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli issued notice to Maheshwari, saying the court would examine the matter.

Senior advocates A M Singhvi and Sidharth Luthra appeared for Maheshwari.

In his submission, Mehta said that there was a question of law that needs examination. It is on the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court.

The UP government has filed a special leave petition against the Karnataka High Court's order of July 23, quashing the notice as mala fide. Maheshwari has been transferred to the US as a senior director in the Revenue Strategy and Operations department of the social media company.

On June 24, the Karnataka High Court had granted protection from arrest to Maheshwari in the June 15 FIR lodged by Loni Police in Ghaziabad.

The police had booked Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, news website The Wire, journalists Mohammed Zubair and Rana Ayyub, besides Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Maskoor Usmani, Shama Mohamed and writer Saba Naqvi.

They were accused of circulating a video in which the elderly man, Abdul Shamad Saifi, claimed that he was allegedly thrashed by some young men who also asked him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'.

The police have maintained the assault took place because the accused were unhappy about the ''tabeez'' (amulets) sold to them by Saifi, a resident of adjoining Bulandshahr district, and ruled out any communal angle in the case.

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