UP Police Moves SC Against Interim Protection Given to Twitter MD

Twitter had been had been named in an FIR over the posts on the assault of a Muslim man in Loni.

A document dated 17 June, which flagged 50 tweets under ‘content auctioned in the jurisdiction’, was accessed by The Quint from Lumen Database on Monday, 21 June.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A week after the Karnataka High Court granted interim stay on the notice issued by the Uttar Pradesh Police to Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari, in relation to the posts on the Loni assault case, the UP Police on Tuesday, 29 June, moved the Supreme Court against the order of protection dispensed by the high court.

Maheshwari has also filed a caveat in the top court to be heard when UP’s appeal is listed.

A bench of Justice G Narendar on 24 June had granted interim relief to the Twitter managing director under Section 41A of CrPC, and posted the matter for 29 June.

What is The Case?

Twitter, in what is being touted as the first such case against it, was named in an FIR by the Ghaziabad Police, in connection with the charges of 'provoking communal unrest' over the posts on assault on a Muslim man in the state's Loni district earlier in June.

A video of the violent incident had gone viral on social media.

The police, however, had stated subsequently that the incident had wrongfully been given a communal colour.

A legal notice was sent by the UP Police to Maheshwari on 17 June.

Maheshwari had been asked to come to the police station at Loni Border and record his statement.

However, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday granted interim relief to Maheshwari. The court directed Ghaziabad Police not to take any coercive steps against him and listed the next hearing on 29 June.