Excerpt
A Petition had been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking criminal action against Twitter India and its representative. This was regarding their involvement in the conspiracy to promote the Khalistan Movement (Sangeeta Sharma vs UOI).
Brief Facts
Sangeeta Sharma was the Petitioner. She had sought a direction for lodging a case against Twitter Communications India Pvt Ltd. It also included the officials Raheel Khurshid and Mahima Kaul. This was for the commission of Offences under Section 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Sections 107, 121A, 124A, 153A, 153b and Section 34 of Indian Penal Code were also included. Section 66F of the Information Technology Act, 2000 was considered. The Petition stated that Respondent No 5 (Twitter Communications India) was the culprit of spreading Khalistani movement. It also spread the anti-national agenda to the public at large.
Contentions
The Petitioner had asserted that in the absence of a mechanism to regulate content/news on social media, the Twitter platform was being used to call upon ‘separatists’. This was “creating panic in some sections of the society, challenging the unity, integrity and sovereignty of Union of India”. Twitter’s servers were used for the promotion of ‘#Khalistan’. There were still many users who were having their user name as Khalistan or similar to Khalistan. This was to promote anti-national activity. The Petitioner had claimed that Twitter had “abetted” the act of the separatists. Twitter had done this by accepting financial gratification and paid advertisements. The brazen attack on sovereignty and integrity of India on the Twitter platform was a detriment to the citizens as a whole.
The Petitioner had also submitted that MP Anantkumar Hedge had raised the issue of Twitter’s “anti-national acts”. However, Twitter did not take any “serious action”. It was further claimed that the management of Twitter India was not neutral. The platform was “unabashedly and unequivocally” against the present government. The Petitioner had sought an investigation by the National Investigating Agency into the said matter. This was to be against those who were promoting pro-Khalistan messages on Twitter. A direction was also sought to Central Government to check and regulate content and advertisement on social media.
Court’s Decision
The matter was listed for hearing before a Division Bench. The Division Bench included Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan. The Chief Justice directed the matter to be placed before the Division Bench headed by Justice Hima Kohli. The next hearing would be on September 30.
Libertatem.in is now on Telegram. Follow us for regular legal updates and judgment from courts. Follow us on Google News, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. You can subscribe to our Weekly Email Updates. You can also contribute stories like this and help us spread awareness for a better society. Submit Your Post Now.
