The Bombay High Court did not grant relief to Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami on Friday and will continue to hear his plea seeking immediate release from judicial custody in a 2018 case of abetment to suicide.
A division bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and M.S. Karnik will hear the Maharashtra government and the complainant Adnya Naik on Saturday, the last working day of the court before it breaks for a 14-day Diwali vacation.
Ms. Naik is the daughter of interior designer Anvay Naik who committed suicide in Alibag on May 5, 2018 allegedly after Mr. Goswami and two others refused to pay him for his work. Naik’s mother Kumud Naik was also found dead beside him. A suicide note apparently written by Naik said Mr. Goswami owed him ₹83 lakhs, Feroz Shaikh of IcastX/Skimedia ₹4 crore and Niteesh Sarda ₹55 lakh.
Senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for Mr. Goswami said the order passed by the chief judicial magistrate of Alibag had important points about the illegality of the arrest. He went on to argue that Mr. Goswami was merely involved in a commercial transaction with Naik. “When you have commercial disputes with different people for over two years, you don’t file a suit. You have creditors beating at your door. You kill yourself. There cannot be an FIR for abetment to suicide for this.”
He said the condition for abetment to suicide must be direct and proximate.
Mr. Salve said the State government was acting out of malice and a clear pattern was evident. He said Home Minister Anil Deshmukh claimed the suicide was due to non-payment by Mr. Goswami. Is the Minister above the judiciary to decide...?”
Mr. Goswami was arrested on November 4 and has been remanded in judicial custody till November 18. He has filed a petition demanding quashing of the FIR and his immediate release.
