Delhi Riots: SC Refuses to Stay Delhi Assembly's Summons to Facebook

The apex court held that there was no precedent for interfering with the action at a such a preliminary stage.

Image of India’s Supreme Court used for representational purposes.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Supreme Court on Thursday, 8 July, refused to put a stay on the summons issued to Facebook India's Managing Director Ajit Mohan over the Delhi riots probe, LiveLaw reported.

The summons were put out by Delhi Assembly's Peace and Harmony committee, which is headed by MLA Raghav Chadha.

However, the court stressed that the Peace and Harmony Committee's enquiry cannot transgress domains of law and order and criminal prosecution, which come under central government's territory, the report added.

This essentially translates to the court granting the petitioner's counsel the right to deny giving information on these "prohibited domains."

What the Court Said

A Bench of of Justice SK Kaul, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, and Justice Hrishikesh Roy observed Facebook's plea to be "premature" and "preemptive" as the matter was only regarding the summons issued by the Delhi Assembly committee.

The apex court held that there is no precedent for interfering with its action at a such a preliminary stage, LiveLaw reported.

The SC also noted that the Assembly's domain covers probing complicated social matters.

In light of the debate around Facebook’s inaction in stifling hate speech of BJP politicians, the Delhi Assembly's Committee on Peace and Harmony had issued a notice to Facebook India Vice-President and Managing Director Ajit Mohan last year.

(With inputs from LiveLaw)