Bail To Arnab Goswami Will Harm Victims: Akshata Naik's Lawyer To Bombay High Court

Harm will be caused to the victims in the Anvay Naik suicide case if Republic TV anchor Arnab Goswami is granted bail, submitted Senior Advocate Shirish Gupte before the Bombay High Court on Saturday.

Mr. Gupte was representing Ms. Akshata Naik, the informant in the FIR registered by Raigad police in 2018 with respect to the death of her husband Anvay Naik.

Senior Advocate Harish Salve, Goswami's lawyer, had submitted on Friday - 'What is the harm if this gentleman is released?'.

Responding to this submission, Gupte told a bench comprising Justices SS Shinde and M S Karnik that harm will be caused to the victims if Goswami is released.

Gupte told the bench that the Naik family is facing intimidation and harassment and that they have filed complaints with respect to threatening calls received by them a few months back.

He submitted that the victims had no notice of the 'A Summary' report filed by the police in the case closing the investigation in 2019. The Magistrate was legally bound to issue notice to the complainant before accepting the 'A Summary'. But that was not done. They got to know about the closure of the case only from Twitter only a few months back. They had to file RTI applications to get the documents related to the case. Following that, they filed a complaint before the Home Minister in May 2020 seeking the re-opening of the case, Gupte narrated the events to the bench.

"To release the man(Arnab Goswami) right now when the investigation is pending is an injustice to the victim. Have we thought of what harm has been caused to this family?", he submitted.

Gupte also questioned the maintainability of the writ of habeas corpus against the remand order.

"Arnab Goswami is under custody after a judicial remand order. Which one of the respondents has kept Goswami under illegal custody?" Gupte submitted highlighting that the CJM Alibag is not a respondent in the habeas petition.

"What is the urgency that this gentleman must be given an audience by a division bench of this court for three days?", Gupte further asked.

He added that the previous investigation was carried out in a "miserable and high-handed fashion". In a related development, the bench issued notice in a separate writ petition filed by Adnya Naik(daughter of Anvay Naik) seeking inquiry into police officers who filed 'A Summary' report in the case.

Akshata Naik was impleaded as an additional respondent in the writ petition filed by Goswami following the directions of the Court. The bench had told Goswami's lawyers that it will not decide on the interim relief without hearing the state and the complainant.

After the conclusion of the arguments yesterday, the bench reserved orders on interim bail. The orders will be pronounced tomorrow at 3 PM.

Though Senior Advocates Harish Salve and Abad Ponda made vehement submissions seeking ad-interim bail for Goswami, the bench refused to grant it. The bench clarified that the pendency of the case in the High Court will not be an impediment for the petitioners to seek regular bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before the concerned court. If such an application is made, the court ordered, the same should be decided by the concerned court within four days of the filing.

Detailed reports of the hearings may be read below :