"In recent years, cases of frivolous criminal complaints or First Information Reports (FIRs) against the Senior Executives (of companies) have seen an unintended increase. The worrisome concern is, in most of these cases, there is no direct relationship between the offence and the executive’s duties, causing unnecessary harassment and interference in the operations of their business," the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), a body representing Indian startups, remarked in a blog post calling for the government to introduce reforms to reduce frivolous criminal complaints against executives and improve the ease of doing business in India. Why does this matter: According to ADIF, such criminal complaints not only interfere with the operations of the concerned company but also impact India's reputation as a startup destination. Cases against Twitter: The most notable instances of such complaints were made against Twitter last year. In May 2021, Delhi Police raided Twitter offices in response to which the company said that it was concerned for its employees in India after the usage of "intimidation tactics by the police." In another instance in June 2021, UP Police filed a case against Twitter India head Manish Maheshwari. They asked him to appear before the police in relation to tweets over the Ghaziabad assault case made on the platform. In this instance, the Karnataka High Court quashed the notice issued by UP Police noting that the police is engaging in "arm-twisting." What complaints are registered against senior executives: "As per a study conducted by ADIF, most of these cases against Key Managerial…
