Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami remanded in judicial custody till November 18

Mumbai, November 4: Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, arrested on Wednesday morning for allegedly abetting the suicide of an interior designer, was later remanded in judicial custody till November 18 by a court in Alibaug. 

The chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court in Alibaug, after hearing both sides for nearly six hours, ruled late in the night that Goswami and two others in the case be sent to 14 days in judicial custody, The Economic Times reported. 

Advocate Aabad Ponda, who appeared for Goswami, argued that the arrest was illegal as the police had earlier filed a closure report which was accepted by the police. 

Advocates Vijay Aggarwal and Mudit Jain, appearing for the other accused argued that the three arrested persons had nothing in common and that it was not possible to allege any commission of offence by them in concert. 

Goswami’s lawyer later told the media that he has filed for bail and the court has asked the investigation officer to file a reply. He will be taken to the Alibaug district prison. 

Goswami was picked up by a Maharashtra police team from his Mumbai home early in the morning, and television pictures showed him being pushed into a police van before being taken away. 

He was arrested under sections 306 (abetment of suicide), and 34 (acts done by persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and later charged with more sections for resisiting arrest and tearing up his arrest papers. 

The two other accused – Feroz Shaikh of IcastX/Skimedia and Niteish Sarda of Smartworks – were also arrested. All three were named in a suicide note purportedly written by the architect, in which he said he and his mother were taking the extreme step because of non-payment of dues by them. 

Goswami was taken from his home to Alibaug, over 90 km from Mumbai, and was produced in the local court, where the judge directed the police to take him to the civil hospital for a medical check-up after his lawyer complained that the senior journalist was assaulted by the police. 

“Goswami was produced before a magistrate court in Alibaug where he complained of physical assault at the hands of the police team that barged into his house this morning, his lawyer told PTI. After the medical check-up, Goswami was brought back to the court for hearing on his remand. 

Architect Anvay Naik and his mother Kumud Naik, directors of Mumbai-based architectural and interior designing firm Concorde Designs Pvt Ltd, were found dead in their Alibaug bungalow in 2018. The case was closed by police under the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government, but was reopened earlier this year after the architect’s family filed a fresh plea. 

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