Anshika Tiwari-
The Apex court on Thursday refused to quash the summons issued by the Peace and Harmony Committee of Delhi Assembly to Facebook India MD Ajit Mohan.
The court in connection therewith said that the challenge of the Facebook head was “premature” and “pre-emptive. It said that nothing other than being asked to appear has really happened.
There is no precedent in place to interfere with the action of the assembly at this threshold stage, the court added.
The summons in question were issued to seek his appearance in an enquiry related to Delhi Riots.
However, the Court held that the enquiry by the Delhi Assembly cannot encroach into “prohibited domains” of law and order and criminal prosecution, as they are subjects under the domain of the Union Government.
Therefore, it clarified that any representative of the petitioner can deny answering any question by the committee if its falls within the prohibited domains.
Ajit Mohan had approached the apex court by under Article 32 of the Constitution and had challenged the summons issued by the Peace and Harmony committee of the Delhi Assembly, headed by Raghav Chadha MLA, to probe the role of fake social media posts in creating communal riots in North East Delhi in February 2020.
The argument that the Delhi Assembly has no legislative competence to enquire into the matter of Delhi riots, was rejected by the honourable court.
The committee has the right to seek information on any matter related to peace and harmony without encroaching in any subject of the Union under the 7th schedule.
The court said that because of the nature of the riot in the Delhi Assembly without transgressing into any field of the Union under 7th Schedule can look into the issue
A Bench comprising of Justice S.K. Kaul, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Hrishikesh Roy delivered the verdict.
On 24th February, the Supreme Court had reserved its judgment in the matter. During the hearing, Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing on behalf of Ajit Mohan, had argued that it was not the “core function” of the Delhi Legislative to constitute a Committee examining the issue of peace and harmony when it does not entail any legislative power to deal with the issue.
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