The Maharashtra government has decided to pay Rs 10 lakhs per hearing to senior advocate Kapil Sibal and Rs 1.5 lakhs per hearing to state government lawyer Rahul Chitnis for effectively representing the state government in connection with a criminal writ petition filed by Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami.
The Home department of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra has passed an order approving funds for the payment of fees to senior advocate at Supreme Court and Congress leader Kapil Sibal and Maharashtra Government lawyer Rahul Chitnis.
The order states that Kapil Sibal is to be paid Rs 10 lakh per appearance and pre-hearing discussion. The Maharashtra Government lawyer Rahul Chitnis is to be paid Rs 1.5 lakh per appearance and pre-hearing discussion.
Arnab Goswami had filed a criminal writ petition against Maharashtra government earlier this year after several FIRs were filed against him following the broadcast of the prime time show on his channel where he questioned the silence of Sonia Gandhi over the horrifying lynching of two Hindu sadhus in Palghar and called her by her maiden name “Antonio Maino”.
Arnab Goswami at loggerheads with the Maharashtra Government
Arnab Goswami and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government are at loggerheads since the prime time show aired on Republic Bharat over the lynching of Hindu sadhus in Palghar. Several FIRs were filed against the news anchor and he was called to the police station in Mumbai where he was grilled for more than 11 hours. A case was also filed against him and his channel Republic TV for broadcast on April 14 and 15 regarding the Bandra migrants incident.
Arnab had also alleged that one of his reporters and the camera person was unlawfully detained by the Maharashtra government when they were on a trail of an investigative story in Navi Mumbai. Another Republic TV journalist Pradeep Bhandari was recently encircled physically by the Mumbai Police and was detained illegally. It was alleged that Pradeep was assaulted as well and was not provided with access to lawyers.
A few days back, Republic TV was also targeted in a TRP manipulation case when the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh convened a press conference and insinuated that Republic TV paid bribes to manipulate its TRP. However, hours later it was revealed that the complaint filed in the TRP manipulation case included India Today’s name and not Republic TV.