Facebook gets new notice to appear before Delhi Assembly committee probing riots

The Delhi Legislative Assembly on Thursday issued a fresh notice to Facebook India, this time avoiding specific notice to its Vice-President Ajit Mohan, by asking a senior, responsible officer from the company to appear before the Peace and Harmony Committee examining the Delhi riots that took place in February last year.

The fresh notice was placed by the Assembly before the Supreme Court, which is hearing a plea filed by Mohan and Facebook India challenging the notice summoning him to depose as a witness before the Committee. The three-judge bench headed by Justice SK Kaul took the fresh notice on record and said, “The specific challenge to the earlier notices of September 10 and September 18 would not stand as those notices stand substituted with the fresh notice.”

For the Delhi Assembly, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi continued arguments for the second consecutive day. During the hearing, the bench, which also comprised of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy, told Singhvi, “You have improved your situation with the new notice now.”