The Bombay High Court has stayed the FIRs filed against Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami by the Mumbai Police. The Court observed that Mumbai Police had failed to demonstrate any prima facie case against him. The Bombay High Court has ordered that no coercive actions be taken against him.
No coercive steps to be taken against him, says the bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice RI Chagla.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 30, 2020
FIRs were registered alleging communalization of Palghar lynching and Bandra migrants gathering.
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The FIRS registered against Mumbai Police had alleged that Arnab Goswami had communalised the palghar mob lynching of Sadhus and the mass gathering at Bandra during the lockdown. It was widely speculated that the FIRs were a consequence of the Congress party’s anger against him for addressing Sonia Gandhi by her Italian name, Antonia Maino.
The Bombay High Court observed that the transcript of the clip from his news show did not demonstrate a communal angle to the coverage. The Court emphasised on the necessity to uphold the freedom of the press and consistent with its observation, granted relief to Arnab Goswami.
Multiple FIRs were filed against Arnab Goswami across states where the Congress party is in power. The Supreme Court had earlier granted him protection from coercive action. It had also grilled senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on the photocopied FIRs that were filed. Mumbai Police had also interrogated Arnab Goswami for over 12 hours straight and over 150 FIRs were filed against him across numerous states.
