K'taka HC grants interim relief to Twitter India MD, asks cops not to take coercive steps against him

Bengaluru, June 24: Karnataka High Court granted interim relief to Twitter India's Managing Director Manish Maheshwari, directed Ghaziabad Police not to take any coercive steps against him till June 29.

Maheshwari was expected to appear in person before the Ghaziabad Police on Thursday in connection with a probe related to the assault of an elderly Muslim man here recently, officials said.

A single bench of Justice G Narender passed the interim order in a writ petition filed by Maheshwari under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, challenging the UP Police notice.

"Prima facie the petitioner is apprehending deprivation of liberty", the bench orally said.

"There will be an interim order restraining the respondents from initiating any coercive action against the petitioner", the bench stated in the order

The Twitter India MD, who lives in Bengaluru in Karnataka, was issued notice by the Ghaziabad Police on June 21 and asked to report at its Loni Border police station at 10.30 am on Thursday to get his statement recorded in the case, the officials added.

Twitter India head challenges Ghaziabad police notice in Karnataka HC

"He did not reach the police station at the given time and is expected to reach here by noon," Circle Officer (Loni), Atul Kumar Sonkar, told PTI.

The Ghaziabad Police had on June 15 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 booked over the circulation of a video in which the elderly man, Abdul Shamad Saifi, claims he was allegedly thrashed by some young men who also asked him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' on June 5. The police claim the video was shared to cause communal unrest.