Arnab Goswami moves SC for quashing of second FIR

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 5

Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of a fresh FIR registered against him for allegedly communalising an incident of migrant workers getting collected at Bandra railway station in Mumbai last month in violation of COVID19 lockdown.

Lodged against Goswami by Raza Educational Welfare Society Secretary Irfan Abubakar Shaikh, the FIR accused Goswami of disturbing communal harmony through his Hindi show on Republic Bharat by allegedly communalising the April 14 incident.

Terming the incident a conspiracy, he had described migrant workers as "actors" planted by people with vested interests.

He sought a direction to restrain Maharashtra Police from registering further FIRs with regard to Bandra incident. No court should take cognisance of any complaint or FIR relating to it, he demanded.

The Republic TV Editor-in-Chief also sought adequate security for his family and colleagues.

Goswami is already facing probe in another case registered against him at Nagpur and transferred to Mumbai in connection with his alleged remarks against Congress president Sonia Gandhi during his shows on Republic TV on mob-lynching of two Hindu saints in Palghar, Maharashtra.

The Supreme Court had on April 24 stayed all coercive action against Goswami for three weeks in connection with multiple FIRs but allowed probe into the Nagpur FIR.

Arnab's fresh petition comes a day after Maharashtra Government alleged before the Supreme Court that he was attempting to “browbeat” the Mumbai Police by “creating a fear psychosis”. It also accused Goswami of abusing the protection from coercive action given by the court. It had urged the court to issue directions to insulate the probe agency from any pressure, threat or coercion from Goswami and to enable it to carry out its lawful obligations.

Accusing the Congress ecosystem of trying to build a fake narrative of a fabricated migrant crisis in Mumbai, he said his channel was the first media outlet to report about involvement of political interest groups.

Alleging that the FIR was "politically motivated", he submitted that it was registered as the Mumbai Police harboured "ill will" against him.