The Bombay High Court refused the interim bail plea of the famous journalist and Editor in Chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami.
On the 9th of November, the Bombay High Court, reviewed the petition filed by Mr. Goswami seeking bail.
However, a bench of judges comprising of Justice S.S. Shinde and M.S. Karnik refused the bail.
The court said, “No case is made out for release of the petitioner under extraordinary jurisdiction.” They further added, “In our opinion, the petitioner (Arnab) has an alternate and efficacious remedy under section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to apply for regular bail. At the time of concluding the hearing of applications, we had made it clear that if the petitioner, if so advised, applies for regular bail under section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before the concerned court, then we have directed the court to decide the said application within four days of filing of the same.”
The Court directed Arnab Goswami’s lawyer to file a petition seeking regular bail.
In addition, the Court also dismissed the plea of Mr. Goswami seeking cancellation of the ongoing investigation in the 2018 suicide case.
In 2018, Anvay Naik, a 53 year old interior designer and his mother, Kumud Naik, committed suicide over non payment of dues from Republic TV.
In regard to the 2018 suicide case, Arnab Goswami and two others were arrested for allegedly abetting suicide of Mr. Naik and his mother.
Arnab Goswami was arrested under sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (acts done by persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC.)
The matter was first filed with the Alibaug Police and heard by a local court of Alibaug. The Alibaug Court rejected the bail plea of Arnab Goswami on the 4th of November and ordered him to continue in police custody for 14 days.
Following the decision of the local court, the lawyer of Mr. Goswami moved the Bombay High Court.
Besides rejecting the bail plea of Mr. Goswami, the HC also rejected the plea for interim bail filed by Neetish Sarda and Firoze Shaikh, the other two accused in the case.
The decision of the Bombay High Court came after the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari spoke to Anil Deshmukh, the Home Minister of Maharashtra regarding the security and health of Arnab Goswami.
Meanwhile, as per the orders of Anil Deshmukh, the Maharashtra police is investigating the 2018 suicide case against Arnab Goswami, Neetish Sarda, Firoze Shaikh and Republic TV.
Stay tuned for further updates.
