New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has quashed all the cases filed against Arnab Goswami as it said that they are identical FIRs which have similar language and context with very minute differences. It said that more than FIR can’t be registered for the same offence. Moreover, it refused to transfer the single case now left against Goswami to the CBI from the Mumbai Police.
New reporter, Arnab Goswami was filed with a number of cases after he telecasted his show on the news channel he works in, regarding Islam and its various jihad. He made derogatory speeches against the people of the community and the religion in general. He was also seen using defamatory language for the Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. Goswami had resorted to “inflammatory statements” during the show on his channel over the Palghar incident, in which two sadhus and their driver were lynched.
The SC has ordered that no FIRs can be filed against the same broadcast of Goswani and has also given him the permission and liberty to vanquish all the remaining cases against him in the concerned court. Along with this, the court also provided special protection from his arrest by the police by duration of 3 weeks. He was already on bail since the FIR was filed.
Except the one filed in Nagpur, all the other FIRs remain void. The case has been transferred to the Mumbai Police from where the SC refused to shift it to the CBI. It has also told the Mumbai Police to provide protection to Goswami.
The Supreme Court pointed out that it has to protect the Right to speech and expression of the people according to the Article 32 of the Indian Constitution.
Goswami remains charged under the FIR against him for disrupting the communal harmony filed by Raza Educational Welfare Society secretary Irfan Abubakar Shaikh. He charged him on basis of creating communal disturbance over the congregation of migrant workers In Bandra, Mumbai last month.
The plea was heard on May 11th, along with charged by Goswami. This was after over a hundred FIRs were filed against him for defaming Sonia Gandhi.
Goswami had demanded the nullifying of all the FIRs on the grounds that they violated his fundamental rights under Articles 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty).
On April 24th, the court had given him protection against the arrest and brushed off all his FIRs except the one in Nagpur which was transferred to the Mumbai Police.
Goswami, on the other hand, has filed a case where 2 men on a bike have allegedly attacked him. Goswami alleged them to be belonging to the Congress party.
