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News Desk: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered that the Mumbai Police should give three days prior notice if they want to arrest Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami in the TRP scam case. The police told the court that it will complete the probe against Republic TV within three months.
A division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice Manish Pitale was hearing a plea filed by ARG Outlier Media — which runs Republic TV and other channels — and Goswami, challenging the police probe, FIR, court proceedings and chargesheets while seeking the transfer of the same to the Central Bureau of Investigation or any other independent agency.
Goswami’s counsel on Tuesday had told the court that the FIR and the chargesheets filed by Mumbai Police were solely intended to target his client for his earlier reportage against the Maharashtra government.
Senior counsel Ashok Mundargi, appearing for ARG Outlier Media, said that while other channels had also been named, the police were only interrogating Republic TV employees and the channel’s role in the case. He added that though the Mumbai Police had been investigating for nearly four months, it has been unable to get any evidence to book the channel or Goswami.
He told the court that while the police had named Goswami and several employees of the ARG Outlier Media as “wanted suspects”, it had no evidence to book them as accused.
The bench had said that the investigation into the case cannot go on forever and the investigating agency must stop at some stage. However, Mundargi submitted that his clients are required to get protection from coercive action pending a hearing. However, state government counsel refused to continue the protection and submitted that the petitioner can move to an appropriate court seeking reliefs in case of emergency.
The HC, while admitting the petition by ARG Outlier, noted in the order, “We direct that in case the investigating officer desires to summon the petitioner Goswami for inquiry/investigation, he shall give clear notice of 3 days (excluding holidays) to him.”
The court added, “In case, such notice/summons is received by the Goswami, as assured by him to this Court and recorded in the order dated October 19, 2020, he shall appear and co-operate with the inquiry before the concerned investigating officer.”
The bench noted that in the course of investigation/inquiry, if the probing officer has reason to believe that he or she needs to take coercive action against Goswami, clear notice of 72 hours should be given before taking such coercive action, so as to facilitate the petitioner Goswami to approach the competent forum for appropriate reliefs.
The Court clarified, “This interim order is granted in the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, keeping in view the serious malafide alleged by the Petitioners against respondents and also keeping in view earlier actions taken by respondent-State and its officials against the petitioner Goswami. It is made clear that, unless aforesaid procedure is followed by the Investigating Officer, no coercive action of arrest should be taken against Goswami.”
The court noted that the investigation cannot be stayed right now as there was no clarity on who is the accused and who is not.
Posting the matter for further hearing on June 28, the court directed Goswami to co-operate with the investigation till then.
