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Bombay HC extends protection from coercive action to Arnab Goswami – The Indian Express

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Published: June 13, 2020 4:26:36 am





The Supreme Court, on May 19, had rejected a petition by Goswami seeking quashing of the FIRs and transfer of the case to CBI. (File)

The Bombay High Court on Friday extended protection from coercive action to Republic TV editor-in chief Arnab Goswami until further orders and reserved its order on a criminal writ plea filed by Goswami.

A division bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Riyaz Chagla heard through videoconferencing a criminal writ plea filed by Goswami seeking various reliefs, including quashing of two FIRs filed against him on April 22 and May 2.

On June 9, HC had directed Goswami to appear before NM Joshi Marg police station on June 10 for questioning. The court had also said no coercive action would be taken against Goswami though he would appear before police as directed.

Goswami has been booked in connection with a TV show on April 29, regarding his comments on migrants gathering outside Bandra railway station on April 14. Apart from this, multiple FIRs have been filed against him over a TV show on April 21, in which he questioned Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the lynching of two sadhus and their driver in Palghar.

The Supreme Court, on May 19, had rejected a petition by Goswami seeking quashing of the FIRs and transfer of the case to CBI and extended his protection from arrest for three more weeks.

On Friday, Senior Counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Goswami, read out each section under which Goswami was booked and opposed the allegation that Goswami’s comments on Palghar and Bandra station incidents in his TV programme were politically motivated. Salve said Goswami’s remarks on the show did not have any malafide intention but could be attributed to journalistic enthusiasm.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal refuted claims made by Salve and said the statements made by Goswami on his show had hurt sentiments of people and investigation in the same is required.

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Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/bombay-hc-extends-protection-from-coercive-action-to-arnab-goswami-6456368/