The Rajasthan High Court Friday granted interim protection from arrest to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami in a case registered against him by Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, under IPC section 153A for promoting enmity between religious groups, reported the legal news portal Bar and Bench.
Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani mentioned the matter before Justice Sandeep Mehta, who ordered the police not to take any coercive action against the people named in the FIR and posted the matter for the next hearing on May 23.
According to Bar and Bench, the court passed the order while hearing a plea submitted by Arnab Goswami seeking the quashing of the FIR filed against him on May 17 at Ambamata Police Station in Rajasthan’s Udaipur. The FIR was filed based on a complaint lodged against the journalist by Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera.
Khera had taken objections to a particular news show televised by Republic Bharat, the Hindi channel of the Republic network, on the demolition of an old Hindu temple in Rajgarh and houses of several Hindus in Alwar Rajasthan.
The lawsuit alleged that the FIR was filed with the intent of harassing and entangling Republic TV in legal cases. It said that the Congress member had filed a complaint in a case where the Congress Government of the state of Rajasthan was being questioned, alluding that Khera was attempting to intimidate and silence the media merely because his party was being questioned.
“The current FIR has been filed at the behest of Mr. Pawan Khera who is the Spokesperson, All India Congress Committee and represents the Indian National Congress in various TV talk shows, discussions/debates that are held on different news channels etc. as per his own complaint. It must be noted that in a case where the Congress Government of the state of Rajasthan was being questioned, a member of the Congress has filed a complaint. This establishes how the entire case is motivated and made to harass and embroil a legitimate news network and its members in a litany of cases,” the plea said.
The Republic Bharat show, which the Congress spokesperson took offence to, was a show related to the alleged demolition of a temple in Rajgarh and a demolition drive in Alwar.
Notably, OpIndia had also reported on April 22, 2022, how in Rajgarh, district Alwar in Rajasthan, the authorities have demolished an old Hindu temple, inviting criticism and condemnation from locals. As per reports, a JCB was brought in to destroy the temple’s roof and pillars. Idols of the temple have been damaged in the demolition drive. The Shivalingam inside the temple was also uprooted by using drills.
Moreover, the Rajgarh authorities had demolished the houses of over 85 Hindu families in a ‘road-widening’ drive citing a city masterplan. Locals whose houses and shops have been demolished have stated that they had the valid documents of their properties. Despite this, the municipality has demolished their buildings. In a drive that started on 17 April, over 150 houses and shops, including old temples have been demolished so far.
In fact, the Republic Bharat show was also on the aforementioned news. Arnab Goswami, in his plea, argued that the broadcasts were intended to maintain communal harmony rather than disrupt it.
Regarding the issue of temple demolition in Rajgarh, the plea said, “In fact, the channels also covered how a Muslim Group had filed a complaint naming Congress Zilla Head Yogesh Mishra for vitiating harmony in the region. Therefore, far from causing strife, Republic was exposing it.”
Notably, for the Alwar demolition drive, the program had used the words ‘Jahangirpuri ka badla?’ In his plea, Arnab Goswami explained that the aforementioned line was made not in reference to any community but to question if it was an apolitically motivated demolition drive.
“It is submitted that there was an uproar over a demolition drive in New Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on 20-21st April, 2022. This demolition was being done by the Delhi MCD which is headed by the BJP. Soon after, there was news of the Alwar Demolition in Rajashtan where there is a Congress government in power. Therefore, the question about “Jahangirpuri Ka Badla” were being raised in the context of it being a political battle over demolition,” the petition said.
Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing Arnab Goswami argued that allowing the proceedings to continue would have a chilling effect on free speech and would be in breach of Article 19(1)(aguarantee )’s of freedom of speech and expression. After hearing the plea, the Rajasthan High Court bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta granted the Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami interim relief from arrest and ordered the Rajashthan police not to take any coercive action against the journalist.
