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The Supreme Court on Monday extended the provisional protection granted to journalist Arnab Goswami until the bank approves an order, reported Bar and bank. The court was listening to a statement by the editor-in-chief of Republic TV in favor of canceling the first information reports filed against him for allegedly disturbing community harmony and defamation of the head of Congress, Sonia Gandhi.
The court reserved his order, which is likely to be pronounced later this week. Goswami first received provisional protection on April 24. “This protection will continue to operate until the court order is issued,” Judges DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said.
The court said it will also consider the request to transfer the investigation to an independent agency. Police statements that Goswami was resorting to pressure and threats would also be taken into account, the bank added.
The journalist’s first request was in relation to the multiple FIRs registered against him in various states after accusing the head of Congress, Sonia Gandhi, of orchestrating the Palghar lynching incident. Three Mumbai residents, on their way to Silvassa on April 16, were lynched by local residents in the Gadakchinchale village of Palghar district on the suspicion that they were thieves. The men who were lynched were reportedly Hindu religious leaders.
On April 24, the court granted provisional protection to Goswami for three weeks while holding all but one FIR against him. The first briefing by Congress Minister Nitin Raut was initially filed in Nagpur, but the Supreme Court transferred the matter to Mumbai. Goswami was investigated by the Mumbai police for over 12 hours in connection with the FIR.
During Monday’s hearing, senior lawyer Harish Salve, who appeared for Goswami, noted that the different FIRs were identical and all were filed by members of the same political party. “This is a concerted attack by a political party against a journalist,” said Salve. “They want to teach me [Goswami] a lesson.”
In another FIR, Goswami has been accused of reporting the Bandra migrant incident on April 14. Large numbers of people had gathered at the station in hopes of returning home amid the Covid-19 lockdown. The plaintiff, Irfan Abubakar Shaikh, secretary of the Raza Educational Welfare Society, referred to a report broadcast on the channel on April 29. He said Goswami attacked a mosque in Bandra that was unrelated to the migrant protest.
Shaikh accused both the channel and Goswami of trying to spread hatred against the Muslim community, adding that the anchor “deliberately highlighted the mosque.” The plaintiff also said that the debate on the channel was intended to blame the Muslim community for the spread of the new coronavirus. The case against Goswami was presented on May 2 at the Pydhonie Police Station.
In his request, Goswami said that the FIR is “politically motivated” and that the Mumbai Police “harbor ill will and malice” towards him. He sought protection against coercive action and the annulment of the FIR.
Also read:
- Palghar lynching: prominent social media users falsely gave crime a community angle
- Captured on TV: Presenter Arnab Goswami blames Congresswoman Sonia Gandhi for lynching Palghar
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