The Supreme Court sends a Notice of Cause to the Secretary of the Assembly of Maharashtra for a letter to Arnab Goswami
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today issued a notice of evidentiary cause to the secretary of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly asking him to explain in two weeks why a contempt process should not be brought against him for his letter to journalist Arnab Goswami allegedly warning him not to divulge the notice. from the house to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, which also granted protection against arrest to Arnab Goswami in the Maharashtra Assembly’s motion for breach of privilege, took note of the Assembly secretary’s October 13 letter and said that prima facie committed his disrespect.
A bank headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde expressed anger when lead attorney Harish Salve, who appeared on behalf of Arnab Goswami, referred to the content of the letter from the Secretary of the Assembly of Maharashtra to Arnab Goswami.
The court said it was “surprised” that the officer in question wrote a letter like this stating that the assembly’s proceedings were confidential and should not have been disclosed.
“This is a serious matter and amounts to contempt. The above statements are unprecedented and tend to discredit the administration of justice and, in any case, may amount to direct interference in the administration of justice.”
“The intention of the author of the letter appears to be to intimidate the petitioner because he approached this court and threaten him with a sanction for doing so,” said the magistracy, also made up of magistrates AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, during the process held. via videoconference.
“Therefore, we issue a notice to defendant number 2 (secretary of the assembly) to show the cause why he should not be punished for contempt of court in exercise of power under article 129 of the Constitution of India”, ordered.
Referring to the wording of the letter, the Supreme Court said that the Secretary of the Assembly “would have done well to understand that the right to go to this court under article 32 of the Constitution of India is in itself a fundamental right “.
He said there was no doubt that if a citizen is somehow deterred from approaching this court in the exercise of his right under Article 32, “it would amount to serious interference in the administration of justice in the country.”
The Supreme Court took note of the fact that the secretary of the assembly, who was notified of Arnab Goswami’s guilty plea, decided to write the letter to the journalist warning him not to reveal the notice of the house to the higher court instead of appearing .
“We found that although the defendant has been notified … instead of appearing, they have issued a letter in question to the petitioner,” the bank said.
The higher court, in its order, also noted that lead attorney Abhishek M Singhvi, who appeared for Maharashtra, expressed his inability to “explain or justify the content” of the Assembly Secretary’s letter to Arnab Goswami.
He also appointed lead attorney Arvind Datar as amicus curiae to assist him in the case.
The Supreme Court was hearing the petition of the journalist Arnab Goswami against the notice of cause of the show by the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra for the initiation of a motion of violation of privilege against him for a report related to the case of the death of the actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Arnab Goswami received notice of cause of the show for making certain comments against Maharashtra’s chief minister Uddhav Thackrey in his informational debates on the Sushant Rajput case.
Arnab Goswami’s lawyer previously informed the Supreme Court that it cannot be construed as a violation of privilege.
In its order, the bank had said: There is nothing wrong with convening the Assembly, but if the privilege committee takes any action, then it can challenge it.
On September 30, the Supreme Court had requested the response of the Secretary of the Assembly of Maharashtra to Arnab Goswami’s request.
Arnab Goswami’s lawyer had previously told the court that the journalist has not interfered in the proceedings of any of the Assembly committees or the Assembly itself.
Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his apartment in Mumbai suburban Bandra on June 14. The CBI is investigating the case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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