A Mumbai court rejected the Mumbai police plea seeking 14 days of police custody of Arnab Goswami, who was arrested today morning in an old closed case. After a hearing that went into the midnight, the Alibaug Court granted 14 days of judicial custody for the Republic TV editor-in-chief, which means the Mumbai police won’t be able to interrogate him in its custody.
Arnab Goswami was arrested on Wednesday morning by a large team of police wielding AK-47 Assault rifles. After he was initially presented before the court, the court had ordered his medical examination as he was injured in the assault by the police. After the medical exam, he was presented before the court again at around 4.45 PM by the Mumbai police, which sought police remand for 14 days.
The senior journalist was arrested after Mumbai police reopened a 2018 case which was earlier closed after police found no evidence against Arnab Goswami. In that case, one Anvay Naik had committed suicide in 2018, and had left a suicide note saying that Arnab Goswami and two other persons owed him money which they were refusing to pay, and due to resultant financial crisis, he is ending his life. But Republic had rejected the claim, saying that it has made the payments as per the contract.
The Mumbai police had claimed that they have obtained fresh evidence in the case which was closed by a court in 2018, and had argued that they need Arnab Goswami’s custody to further probe the case.
But after a marathon hearing of more than 6 hours, the court rejected the demand of police custody, and send him to judicial custody of 14 days.
The court said that there is no justifiable ground to ask for police custody in the case. The court observed that there is no chain showing nexus between the suicide and the role of Arnab Goswami. Most importantly, the judge also observed that the closed case was re-opened by police without consent from court.
After the midnight verdict by the court, Arnab Goswami said, ‘The Police has lost’.
According to Republic TV reports, the court also asked the lawyer of Arnab Goswami to keep his bail papers ready tomorrow. The Alibaug Court will hear his bail plea tomorrow morning.
In the meanwhile, the Bombay High Court will hear a petition of Arnab Goswami seeking to quash the case in the 2018 abetment of suicide case. The court will also hear the petition or Republic TV against Mumbai police trying to implicate in the TRP manipulation case by shielding the India Today channel, which was originally named in the complaint and the FIR in the TRP case.
