Supreme Court rejects Arnab Goswami’s plea against Mumbai Police

Dec. 7:  A fresh petition was filed by Republic TV and its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami seeking protection for all the employees of the news channel from coercive action by Maharashtra police. Hearing the petition on Monday, the Supreme court refused to entertain the plea. “This petition is ambitious in nature. You want Maharashtra police not to arrest any employee and transfer the cases to CBI. You better withdraw this,” said the bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud to senior advocate Milind Sathe.

The plea submitted by Arnab Goswami and his company, ARG Outlier Media Private Limited, requested a CBI investigation against the Maharashtra DGP and the Mumbai Police Commissioner, to quash all FIRs, and to direct Maharashtra Police not to arrest anyone associated with the company, including stakeholders, etc. “You have sought all the reliefs and these can’t be entertained in one petition,” the bench said, after which Sathe said he would withdraw the plea.

Mumbai Police had registered a case in the alleged Television Rating Points (TRP) manipulation scam and Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had claimed that three channels, including Republic TV, had manipulated the TRP.

The Supreme Court had on November 27 extended the interim bail of Goswami and two others till four weeks after the Bombay High Court decides their pleas for quashing of an FIR in the 2018 abetment to suicide case.