Karnataka High Court to pass order in plea by Twitter India MD on July 13

The Karnataka High Court said on Friday it would pass an order on July 13 in a petition filed by Twitter India managing director Manish Maheshwari, challenging the jurisdiction of the Uttar Pradesh Police in summoning him for questioning in person.

A single judge bench of Justice G Narendar asked senior counsel CV Nagesh, appearing on behalf of Maheshwari, to provide a summary of his submission to the court by Monday. The order will be dictated the following day.

Maheshwari has challenged the jurisdiction of the UP Police in issuing a notice to appear before the investigating officer under Section 41(A) of the Indian Penal Code in a case relating to a video showing an attack on an elderly man in Ghaziabad that went viral on the microblogging platform.

His counsel argued in court that he was merely an employee of Twitter Communication India and did not have anything to do with the content posted on the social media platform, which is managed by Twitter Inc, a company registered in the United States. The counsel representing UP, Prasanna Kumar, argued that Maheshwari had claimed that he was the managing director of Twitter India, and as the representative of the firm in India, he needed to come before the investigating authority and answer its questions.

On Friday, Kumar told the court that the video’s upload had “resulted in violence” and argued that the Karnataka High Court did not have territorial jurisdiction to hear and decide on the matter as the offence had taken place in UP.