“We cannot have the spectacle of a sword of Damocles hanging over the head of a journalist while a public debate is taking place,” the higher court had said in its order. The judges also noted that “no prima facie case was brought against him.”
The Maharashtra government filed an appeal in the high court against this order of the Bombay High Court, which was heard on Monday by a court of the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde together with Justices DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao.
During the hearing, lead attorney Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the Maharashtra government, argued that the higher court did not have the authority to suspend the investigation in its entirety.
He suggested that certain conditions could be imposed to ensure there are no equity concerns, such as no arrest / enforcement action, and 48-hour notice for subpoena for questioning, but beyond this, “there should be no impression that someone is above of the law.”
Lead attorney Harish Salve, representing Goswami, argued that his client and Republic TV had been targeted since April 2020 by the Mumbai Police, including with a recent FIR targeting all of the channel’s editorial staff. It maintained that the FIRs in question in the case before the Supreme Court “were not genuine.”
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