"Will Chief Minister Be Arrested If A Person Names Him In Suicide Note For Not Paying Salary?" Salve Argues For Arnab Goswami

Senior Advocate Harish Salve vociferously told the court today that the case against Arnab Goswami did not stand the test of basic ingredients required to establish an offence of Abetment to Suicide under Section 306 IPC.

"Last month a man in Maharashtra committed suicide saying the Chief Minister failed to pay salary? What you do? Arrest the Chief Minister?" Salve said.

Mr. Salve is currently making rejoinder arguments in the Supreme Court before bench of Justices DY Chandrachud & Indira Banerjee against the Bombay High Court order denying Goswami bail for a 2018 Abetment to Suicide case.

Salve has substantiated his arguments on mala fides against Goswami which he said are apparent & that his arrest and detention is "tainted in malice".

"Do you arrest a man in a three-year-old FIR and put him in jail on a Diwali week and then transfer him to Taloja jail with hardened criminals?" Salve submitted before a division bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee.

In this context, Salve had told the bench that Goswami was being targeted by the ruling dispensation and that the unrelated issue pertaining to the instant case was raised in discussions before the Legislative Assembly.

"There is no doubt what is happening in the State. This is a smokescreen for teaching the man a lesson", Salve added.

Salve further submitted that the Magistrate should have released him on bond on the first day of production itself as no offence was made out against him. Mere non-payment of dues cannot amount to abetment to suicide, Salve said. He also touched upon the issue of the other accused persons mentioned along with Goswami in the suicide note but only Arnab Goswami was being discussed.

"Would heavens have fallen if the man was released on ad-interim bail?", he asked.

Salve submitted that he was also making a prayer to transfer of investigation of Anvay Naik abetment to suicide case to the CBI and was seeking interim release in the meantime.

Senior Advocate Harish Salve opened arguments today by narrating the chain of events from regarding registration of FIRs against Goswami, viz. over his reporting of Palghar lynching and Bandra migrants gathering incidents, the subsequent intervention made by the SC on multiple FIRs, the threat issued by Shiv Sena to cable operators to boycott Republic TV, the breach of privilege notice issued by the Maharashtra assembly against him, the TRP scam FIR etc.

In this backdrop, he submitted that there were continuous attempts by the ruling party of Maharashtra to target Arnab Goswami.

Salve further submitted that the offence of abetment to suicide was not made out by the allegations in the FIR. 

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