Updated: December 5, 2020 7:49:26 am
Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV
RAIGAD Police, on the 1,914-page charge sheet filed in the Anvay Naik suicide case on Friday, they dropped the charge stating that all three defendants, including Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, conspired to drive Naik to suicide in April 2018.
Naik, an interior decorator, had named Goswami, Feroz Shaikh of IcastX / Skimedia and Niteish Sarda of Smartworks as responsible for the suicide. He had worked for them and wrote in the suicide note that he had not been paid Rs 5.40 million for the job.
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While the FIR recorded by the Raigad police shortly after the incident had added Section 34 of the IPC (Common Intent), meaning that the three had worked together to drive Naik to commit suicide, the charge sheet has removed that section . The charge sheet has retained Section 306 (complicity to commit suicide) and added Section 109 (punishment for complicity). The elimination of Section 34 becomes important as it was one of the main factors mentioned by the previous investigating officer when closing the case in 2019.
Although the current charge sheet removes the references to the three linked, to establish that Naik had no choice but to commit suicide, it has statements from more than 50 witnesses, of which nine statements have been registered before a magistrate.
“We have statements from various Naik employees, bank statements and emails to show that the failure to pay money by the three defendants led him to commit suicide,” said Inspector Jamil Shaikh, who is investigating the case.
One official said: “We have found strong evidence in the form of some communication that we have established between Naik and the accused, where he told them that if they did not pay him for the work he had done, it would be difficult for him to continue living.
While in the closing report filed in 2019, the officer had concluded that Naik had not completed or had not satisfactorily completed work performed for the defendant, the current charge sheet also indicates that they have statements from those who work for their clients that establish that Naik had completed the job he had taken on from them.
Earlier this week, Maharashtra Interior Minister Anil Deshmukh had said that the police would soon produce a “strong charge sheet” in the case. Goswami Thursday submitted an urgent provisional request to the bomb, ay HC requesting a stay on the filing of a charge sheet and other procedures. It is likely to be heard next week.
On Saturday, the court will hear the request for review filed by Raigad police against the lower court order last month denying police custody of the three defendants.
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