Arnab Goswami to remain imprisoned, Bombay-HC will consider plea tomorrow
The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to grant interim relief to Republic TV's boss Arnab Goswami in the habeas corpus petition he filed, challenging his dramatic arrest and remand on Thursday. His plea will be taken up tomorrow. Goswami is charged with abetment to suicide as the deceased mentioned his name in the note written before his demise in 2018. Here's more.
Probe illegal, case was shut in 2019: Goswami's lawyer
Senior Advocate Abad Ponda, who represented the journalist, called the probe illegal while demanding ad-interim relief for Goswami. "Commencement of new investigation after re-opening the case is contrary to well-settled principles of criminal law," he told the division bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik. He reminded the case was closed in 2019 and the "A" summary submitted by police was accepted by a magistrate.
Lawyer claimed the latest investigation wasn't sanctioned by court
"The police served only an intimation to the magistrate on October 15, 2020, about re-opening the case. The court does not grant them permission. It records "seen and filed." There was no permission. No nod for further investigation," claimed Ponda.
Detention is illegal, Goswami told court
After hearing Ponda's arguments, Justice Shinde noted that no decision can be taken without hearing the respondents. "The respondents are entitled to prior notice...We will have to issue a notice to the State, to the complainant," said HC. At this point, Ponda quickly intervened, saying Goswami has been arrested illegally. He said even one second of illegal detention can't be permitted by courts.
Goswami was sent to remand for 14 days
When Goswami's side claimed he was being treated unfairly, the court reminded that he has other legal options, like challenging his remand order. Yesterday, the chief judicial magistrate court in Alibaug, where the interior designer and his mother died by suicide, sent Goswami to judicial custody for 14 days, till November 18. Eminent lawyer Harish Salve also argued for Goswami's release.
Will heavens fall if he is given relief, asked Salve
"He (Goswami) is a journalist. Will heavens fall if he is given interim release? I don't understand, with due respect. Please release this man as an ad-interim measure and hear the case in detail later," Salve said, but the court remained unconvinced.
He was charged for abetting suicide, later more sections added
Goswami was initially arrested under IPC Sections 306 and 34. Later, he was charged with more offenses for resisting arrest and tearing the papers. In 2018, architect Anvay Naik and his mother Kumud, directors of Mumbai-based architectural and interior designing firm Concorde Designs Pvt. Ltd., took their lives allegedly due to financial constraints, sparked by non-payment of dues by Goswami and two others.
Goswami cried vendetta; bereaved family saw hope after his arrest
While Goswami and his channel claimed his arrest was a part of a larger scheme against the free press by the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government, Naik's family said they see a flicker of hope. "We have been demanding his arrest for a long time; I am happy Maharashtra Police has finally taken this first step. We want a fair investigation," Anvay's wife, Akshata, said.
Why should he remain scot-free, asked deceased's wife
"Arnab Goswami kept saying arrests should be made in Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case where there was no suicide note. My husband left behind a suicide note naming Arnab and two others but no arrests were made. How is this fair?" Akshata asked.
'Saamana' slammed BJP, whose politicians dubbed arrest "Black Day"
Soon after Goswami's arrest, a number of BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, rallied behind him, calling it an attack on democracy. Today, they were slammed in Sena's mouthpiece Saamana. The editorial accused the previous government of covering up the investigation, and also asked why similar voices weren't raised when journalists were killed in BJP-governed Uttar Pradesh, and arrested in Gujarat.
