Top officials of Twitter have refused to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology that had asked them for a hearing on February 11, PTI reported on Saturday. The company said it was given “short notice” for the meeting, unidentified members of the panel told the news agency.

The committee’s chairperson Anurag Thakur took “serious note” of Twitter’s refusal and said the panel will take action on the date of the hearing. Meenakshi Lekhi, spokesperson for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said no agency in any country has the right to disrespect its institutions.

“We have indicated that we are willing to participate in such a broad hearing process,” a Twitter spokesperson said, according to the Hindustan Times. “Given the short notice of the hearing, we informed the committee that it would not be possible for senior officials from Twitter to travel from the United States to appear on Monday.”

“We have suggested that we work with the Lok Sabha Secretariat to find mutually agreeable dates for this meeting so that a senior Twitter official can attend,” the spokesperson added, according to PTI. “We have also offered representatives from Twitter India to come and answer questions on Monday. We await feedback from the government on both of these matters.”

“We appreciate and respect the committee’s focus on the issues of user safety and user rights,” the spokesperson added. “We understand the Committee’s interest in these issues and the importance of hearing from multiple stakeholders regarding the implications for users of social media in India. We have indicated that we are willing to participate in such a broad hearing process.”

The parliamentary committee had written to Twitter India on February 1 to summon the “head of the organisation”, who “may be accompanied by another representative”, to discuss the use of social media on February 7. The meeting was postponed to February 11 to allow more time to senior officials, including Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey.

Thakur had earlier said the panel will discuss “safeguarding citizens’ rights on social/online media platforms”. He had said representatives of the social media company and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology would present their views in New Delhi at 3 pm on February 11.

Last month, Jack Dorsey had said his team was preparing for the Lok Sabha elections and that they wanted to ensure that the “integrity of the conversation around the election” was maintained. The polls are expected to be held in April and May.

On January 10, Twitter had announced that it will provide an advertising dashboard that will show expenditures by political parties in India on the platform during the course of the election.

On Friday, the company said it is proactively working with political parties to verify candidates, elected officials and other relevant officials ahead of the elections.