Ghaziabad man assault: UP cops move to SC to pin Twitter head

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Police moved to the Supreme Court after the Karnataka High Court awarded Twitter India head, Manish Maheshwari, temporary protection from arrest, NDTV reports. The UP police had filed an FIR in which Maheshwari is named accused and charged under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure in connection with tweets about the assault of a Muslim in Ghaziabad.

Maheshwari had moved to the Karnataka High Court, as he was a resident of Bengaluru, as UP Police summoned him to Loni Police station for questioning. During the hearing, Maheshwari had told the court that he was changed from witness to accused in two days. The court had ordered against Maheshwari being subjected to "coercive action" as the UP Police summoned him to the state as a witness, but later, he was changed as an accused charged with intent to riot, promoting enmity and criminal conspiracy.

The single bench of Justice G Narender had said that the case needs further consideration and reserved orders till June 29. The court also told Maheshwari that he need not travel to UP at the moment but allowed UP Police to question him virtually.

The court had told UP Police that Maheshwari is not the one who monitor the day-to-day activities of Twitter. The police should at least prima facie show that he is responsible for the posts, the court said.

When an old Muslim man from Ghaziabad was thrashed and forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" and "Vande Mataram", several journalists and Congress leaders tweeted. The UP Police had filed FIR against Twitter and those who tweeted regarding the incident and ordered Twitter to take the tweets down, but it didn't initially. The UP Police had declared that Maheshwari is responsible for the activities on the platform.

Now, Maheshwari also approached the Supreme Court and filed a caveat, asking the court to hear his side before passing orders on UP police' favour.