Punjab scribe moves HC, wants FB page restored

The petition from journalist Maninderjeet Singh was taken up by the bench of justice Jagmohan Bansal, which posted the matter for hearing on May 7

A digital journalist from Punjab has approached the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking restoration of his Facebook page, which was allegedly removed at the behest of the government of India and its agencies.

The plea further claimed that his other page “Lok Awaz TV,” was also removed in January, allegedly for infringing on the third parties’ intellectual property rights of the Aam Aadmi Party Punjab.

The petition from journalist Maninderjeet Singh was taken up by the bench of justice Jagmohan Bansal, which posted the matter for hearing on May 7, asking the lawyers for various respondents—the Centre and Punjab—to seek “instructions” on the issue raised by him.

According to the plea filed through lawyer Nikhil Ghai, Singh’s Facebook page “Maninderjeet Sidhu” was arbitrarily removed by Facebook in March without providing grounds or reasons for the removal.

The official Facebook page of “Maninderjeet Sidhu” had more than 4.5 lakh followers, the plea said, adding that this platform is where he focuses on grassroots journalism and public interest reporting.

The plea further claimed that his other page “Lok Awaz TV,” was also removed in January, allegedly for infringing on the third parties’ intellectual property rights of the Aam Aadmi Party Punjab. The page had 9.37 lakh followers.