The Supreme Court on Monday extended the protection granted to Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami from coercive action by the Mumbai police, while noting that a balance should be struck between the right to free speech and the police’s duty to conduct investigation without fear or favour.
The court reserved its verdict on a plea by Mr. Goswami to quash an FIR registered against him by the Mumbai police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
“We must ensure somebody is not subject to harassment but we should not create an environment where anybody in particular is exempted from the normal course of proceedings,” a Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud observed orally.
The court initially asked Mr. Goswami to move the Bombay High Court, but senior advocate Harish Salve, for him, said the conduct of the police towards him had a “chilling effect” on press freedom. He said the motive behind the FIRs was to silence an “unpleasant voice.” The Bench said it would pronounce its verdict in a few days.
He argued that several FIRs were registered against Mr. Goswami in connection with his alleged statements on the Palghar lynching incident during his TV shows. Mr. Salve said his client was interrogated for over 12 hours by the police and one of the two investigating officers probing the case had tested COVID-19 positive.
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Mr. Salve argued that the probe in the Palghar incident remarks should be transferred to the CBI.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the Bench that this was a peculiar case as the accused was saying that the police were pressuring him.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Maharashtra government, said this was a clear violation of Article 19 (right to free speech) and he could not stigmatise people by way of sensationalising things.
On April 24, the top court had granted a three-week protection to Mr. Goswami from coercive measures against him.
