Arnab Goswami apologizes in contempt case by former TERI chief in Delhi high court
New Delhi: Arnab Goswami, the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, has issued an unconditional apology before the Delhi High Court in a 2016 contempt case filed against him and others by former Executive Vice Chairman of TERI, R.K. Pachauri, reported LiveLaw.in. The case was filed against Goswami and others for allegedly disobeying the court's earlier orders that restricted them from publishing certain claims against Pachauri.
According to the report, in his affidavit submitted to the court on April 28, Goswami apologized and requested the court to accept his apology and close the ongoing proceedings against him. He emphasized that he is a law-abiding citizen who holds the courts in high esteem and has the utmost respect for the Delhi High Court.
Goswami stated that he had no intention to willfully disobey the court's orders and believed that the alleged broadcasts were not prohibited based on the court's previous order in C.S. (OS) 425 of 2015. He argued that the broadcasts were made in good faith as part of fair reporting, exercising his freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution.
Goswami's response was filed through Advocate Aman Avinav. His counsel, Senior Advocate Malvika Trivedi, had previously informed the court on April 17 that an affidavit tendering an unconditional apology would be filed within a week.
During the proceedings on April 29 before Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, Trivedi submitted a copy of the affidavit to the court. It was also mentioned that Raghav Ohri, representing another party in the case, had filed a similar affidavit tendering an unconditional apology without delving into the merits of the allegations.
The court, however, has not yet uploaded the order of the proceedings on its website. The status of the case indicates that it has been disposed of.
R.K. Pachauri, who passed away in 2020, had filed the plea claiming that the media houses, including Goswami's previous employer Times Now, were in contempt of two court orders that required adherence to "journalistic norms" in reporting about the proceedings of an inquiry against him. The plea argued that the media houses were prohibited from publishing any news report, article, or opinion regarding the allegations of sexual harassment against Pachauri. In addition to Goswami, the plea was also filed against Bennet & Coleman, The Economic Times, Raghav Ohri, and Prannoy Roy.
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Congress criticises Kerala CM for attending official event during Manmohan Singh's funeral
Kochi(PTI): The Congress in Kerala on Saturday criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for participating in an official inauguration ceremony at the international airport here while the nation was mourning the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Speaking to reporters here, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan described the Chief Minister’s action as "disrespectful" and "inappropriate".
It is disrespectful and inappropriate for someone like the CM to attend and inaugurate an official event at Kochi airport while the funeral of Manmohan Singh, who served as Prime Minister of India for ten years, is being held in New Delhi, the LoP said.
He added that the Chief Minister of Kerala should not have attended such an event and that a request had been made to the airport management to postpone the function and inform the Chief Minister about it the day before.
Satheesan expressed his "grief and protest" over the "disrespect" shown by the CM.
Earlier in the day, Vijayan inaugurated the Taj Cochin International Airport, a five-star hotel developed by Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) and operated by the IHCL Taj Group.
In New Delhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was cremated with full state honours on Saturday in the presence of top dignitaries from India and abroad.
The last rites were attended by President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with top Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi.
