Karnataka High Court directs MEA to undertake diplomatic interaction to protect Indian arrested in Saudi Arabia over Facebook post

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to undertake diplomatic interaction with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to protect the interests of an Indian citizen who had been arrested over an allegedly derogatory Facebook post. [Kavitha Shailesh v Union of India].Justice Krishna S Dixit was hearing a plea file by the wife of an Indian citizen who had been jailed and convicted on charges of blasphemy and sedition in Saudi Arabia. "The Ministry of External Affairs is directed to cause diplomatic-level interaction so that the Indian citizen concerned will not be put to prejudice in a haste where further investigation is being undertaken by the jurisdictional police with wider resources", the Court ordered. .The petitioner's husband was arrested for allegedly posting derogatory content regarding the Saudi King on his Facebook (META) account. .During the hearing today, the Central government filed an affidavit detailing the steps taken to secure liberty of the petitioner's husband. However, the Court found the government's action wanting."They show some amount of care and responsibility which officials of the embassy have shown, but they give some scope for argument that the amount of concern shown for similar cases in general and Mr. Kulbhushan’s case in particular is lacking", said Justice Dixit..The bench took into account the submission that in matters pertaining to international interactions, a host of factors enter the frame and many of them are beyond judicial accessibility..However, it was noted that there was a prima facie case that the petitioner's husband was innocent and that some mischievous person has maneuvered to implicate him in a legal imbroglio, while taking advantage of his stationing on a foreign soil. .Earlier, the petitioner had submitted before the High Court that her husband was innocent and that someone had hacked his META account to engineer acts of blasphemy and sedition in order to implicate him. Further, she claimed that her First Information Report (FIR) was not properly investigated due to META's lack of cooperation. On June 14, the Mangaluru Commissioner of Police appeared before the Court and narrated difficulties being faced by the investigating officer due to META's reluctance to furnish the required information.The case was then adjourned for a week's time for META's technical team to interact with the Investigating Officer and come up with a plan of action. .Today, the Inspector of Police and META's counsel appeared and submitted that META had cooperated with the investigation process. .The case will be heard next on July 17. .Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. Partner Tejas Karia appeared for META. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.