PremiumThe Karnataka High Court on Thursday gave interim relief to Twitter India head Manish Maheshwari in connection with the Loni assault case.
The Karnataka HC has said that "no coercive action" could be taken against Twitter India's Managing Director, who on Wednesday moved the court to challenge the summons from the Ghaziabad Police.
Maheshwari was supposed to appear before the Ghaziabad Police at 11:30 am today but didn't reach the police station at the given time to get his statement recorded. He had been given seven days to appear before the police and record his statement.
This morning police sources said Maheshwari was expected at the Loni police station at 10.30 am. However, he has not appeared so far, according to Atul Sonkar, the Circle Officer quoted by news agency PTI.
A single-judge bench of Justice G Narender stated "this matter needs further consideration" and reserved orders till 29 June. "UP Police cannot arrest (till then)..." Justice Narender added.
However, the Karnataka HC informed that it was not stopping investigations. "If the police desire to investigate, they may do so by virtual mode," it said.
What is the Ghaziabad assault case?
The case relates to assault on an elderly man at Loni in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district. A video of the incident went viral on social media a few days later and was shared by many.
Abdul Samad Saifi, a resident of Bulandshahr, in Ghaziabad's Loni area was thrashed on 5 June allegedly over a dispute on a magical amulet given by him to the main accused in the case.
The assailants beat him and chopped off his beard.
The Ghaziabad Police had on 15 June booked Twitter, 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 Saifi claims he was allegedly thrashed by some young men, who also asked him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' on 5 June. The police claim the video was shared to cause communal unrest.
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