The Supreme Court stayed the arrest…
The Supreme Court stayed the arrest of Arnab Goswami for 3 weeks
Highlight :Supreme Court stays Arnab Goswami’s arrest for 3 weeks
Supreme Court gave relief to Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV, against FIRs in several states for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and spreading communalism. The Supreme Court granted immediate relief to Arnab Goswami and stayed his arrest for three weeks. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice M.R. Shah said that there should be no restriction on media. Justice Chandrachud said, I am opposed to banning media.
The top court ordered that the case lodged in Nagpur to be transferred to Mumbai, where investigations into the case against Goswami would continue. Apart from this, investigation of all other cases and complaints has been banned. With this, there will be no investigation into the new FIR related to the April 21 show. The court also asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Goswami, to bring all the FIRs and complaints on record together. In the petition, Goswami urged the apex court that no concrete action should be taken against the FIRs registered against him in Maharashtra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. He said that the action against him is an attempt to curb Free Speech and Freedom of Press under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution.
Senior advocate Vivek Tankha, representing the Chhattisgarh government, urged the court to issue instructions to Goswami to exercise restraint and from making such statements. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Maharashtra government, suggested that the Nagpur FIR could be shifted to Mumbai. The court then said that it allows the petitioner to apply for anticipatory bail before the trial court or the High Court. During the hearing, the bench said that Goswami cannot be prosecuted in different parts of the country. The court will hear the case further after eight weeks. The apex court has also asked the Mumbai Police to provide security to the Republic TV office and the petitioner.
