HC grants Twitter India chief interim relief from summons by UP cops

Karnataka High Court on Thursday granted interim relief to Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari against notice issued by the UP police in a case related to a video that went viral on the platform.

The court directed Ghaziabad police not to take any coercive steps against him and said that if the cops want to examine Twitter India chief, they can do so through virtual mode.

During the hearing, Maheshwari's counsel told Karnataka HC that he is just an employee of the organisation and has nothing to do with the offence.

Maheshwari's counsel further informed the court that his client is living in Bengaluru. He said that both Supreme Court and High Court have agreed that the statement can be recorded through video-conferencing but Ghaziabad Police wants his personal presence.

The case relates to a video of a Muslim man being beaten up and allegedly forced to chant “Jai shri Ram” by his attackers. A case was filed against Twitter, wire.in, Congress leaders and journalists for promoting the video and giving it a communal colour.

Ghaziabad Police has summoned Maheshwari and asked him to appear in person. Twitter officals informed the police that they are available for questioning via video conferencing and the cops rejected it.