Rajasthan HC stays Twitter CEO’s arrest

JODHPUR: ON THE ORDER OF THE METROPOLITAN COURT OF JODHPUR, AN FIRST INFORMATION REPORT (FIR) WAS LODGED AGAINST TWITTER CEO JACK DORSEY AT

BASNI POLICE STATION

The Rajasthan high court on Wednesday stayed arrest of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in connection with an FIR lodged against him for hurting sentiments of the Brahmin community.

When the prosecution requested the court to order the Twitter CEO to join the investigation, Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati said Dorsey can keep his side in front of police through a representative.

“Public prosecutor requested that the petitioner may be ordered to join investigation which this court does not agree because the petitioner is an American citizen not residing in India. On the face of complaint pertaining to the Twitter post attributed to the petitioner, it reflects that it has been twitted from twitter handle of one Anna MM and not the present petitioner. Thus no custodial investigation is warranted at this stage and the protection as granted above shall remain in currency,” the high court said.

On the order of the metropolitan court of Jodhpur, an first information report (FIR) was lodged against Dorsey at Basni Police Station.

Petitioner Rajkumar Sharma of Vipra Foundation had moved the metropolitan court after Dorsey shared a picture on his Twitter account that showed him holding a poster with a tag line “Smash Brahminical Patriarchy”.

“Such a photo was posted to humiliate the Brahmin community. The comments of the Twitter CEO have hurt the community sentiments,” Sharma said in his complaint.

Earlier, the Twitter CEO approached the high court urging it to quash the FIR.

During the hearing on Wednesday, Dorsey’s counsel Mahesh Jethmalani told the court that during his visit to India, his client participated in a meeting to hear experience of some leading women in using Twitter on November 13.

At the end of the meeting, someone in the room called for a group photograph. One Dalit activist, who had shared her story about abuse on the platform, carried a placard with the slogan “Smash Brahmanical Patriarchy”. She gave the placard as a gift to the Twitter CEO.