Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami moved the Bombay high court to request a stay of the ongoing investigation by Mumbai police into Anvay Naik’s suicide case in 2018. The journalist also urged the high court to transfer the investigation to CBI or any other independent agency.
The matter will be heard in the Bombay High Court on December 10.
Goswami was arrested on November 4 on charges of being an accessory to the suicide of interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother in 2018. He was granted provisional bail on November 11.
Maharashtra Interior Minister Anil Deshmukh has recently said that a charge sheet in the case will be filed soon.
The Supreme Court has observed that the prima facie assessment of the FIR against journalist Arnab Goswami and two other persons did not establish the ingredients of the crime of complicity in suicide. The higher court has also extended the provisional bond granted to Goswami.
A court of judges DY Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee said that the higher court should not be excluded from the exercise of power when a citizen has been “arbitrarily deprived of his personal freedom in excess of state power.”
“In this batch of cases, a prima facie evaluation of the FIR does not establish the ingredients of the crime of instigation to suicide under Section 306 of the IPC. The appellants are residents of India and do not pose a flight risk during the investigation or trial.
“There is no apprehension of tampering with evidence or witnesses. Taking these factors into account, the order dated November 11, 2020 provided for the release on bail of the appellants, ”the higher court recently said.
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