Elon Musk''s attorneys filed a petition with a federal appeals court to approve a provision in his consent decree for 2018 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requiring a Tesla lawyer to examine some of his comments on Twitter.
In a letter filed late on Tuesday with the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, lawyers for Musk described the pre-approval requirement as a "government-imposed muzzle," which obstructed and dismantled his legal speech on a broad spectrum topics.
Despite their claim that the requirement violated the US Constitution and hampered public policy by putting "contrary to the American principles of liberte speech and open debate."
Outside market hours, the SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is expected to file its own appeals court.
Musk has decided to overturn a portion of an April 27 decision by US District Judge Lewis Liman, who rejected his decision to avert the consent decree altogether.
Musk''s arguments equated to a "bombing" of requirements he no longer wanted to adhere to now that "his company has become, according to his estimation, all but unvincible."
- Elon Musk''''s Twitter Deposition Rescheduled for October 6-7
According to Forbes magazine on Wednesday, Musk, the 51-year-old has a total of $259.8 billion (roughly Rs. 21,25,878 crore) which is nearly twice as much as anyone else.
An August 7, 2018, letter claiming that he had "funding secured" to take his electric vehicle private, although a buyout was not close, was resolved as a result of the decree.
In settling, Musk agreed to let a Tesla lawyer screen tweets that might contain significant information about the company.
He and Tesla each paid $20 million in civil penalties, according to Musk, who had resigned from Tesla''s seat.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a probe and submitted documents concerning Musk''s and Tesla''s compliance, when Musk asked his followers in a Twitter post on November 6, 2021 whether he should sell ten percent of his Tesla share to cover tax rates on stock options.
Musk''s lawyers claimed in Tuesday''s filing that it''s time to take over in the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"Every objective achieved by the pre-approval provision has been met," the lawyers said, "under the shadow of the consent decree."
Musk is attempting to suspend his April offer to purchase Twitter for $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,37,465 crore) while claiming that the company misled him by downplaying the number of fake accounts.
Twitter has sued Musk to allow him to complete the merger at the agreed-upon price, which is 23 percent higher than the stock that closed on Tuesday. A nonjury trial for October 17 is scheduled at the Delaware Chancery Court.
The case involves Musk vs. SEC, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 22-1291.