Police file revision plea in sessions court for Arnab custody
Mumbai: The Alibaug police in Raigad district on Thursday filed a revision application before a sessions court challenging the order passed by a lower court remanding Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and two others to judicial custody in abetment of a suicide case.
Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Sunaina Pingle, after perusal of the case diary and other relevant documents on Wednesday, noted that the prosecution has failed to prima facie establish a link between the deceased and the accused persons.
The CJM, in a late-night order, remanded Goswami and the two other accused in judicial custody till November 18 in the case of suicide of interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother, residents of Alibaug, over alleged non-payment of dues by companies of the accused persons.
The police, in its application, said the CJM court at Alibaug had erred in not considering the submissions and grounds submitted by the prosecution while seeking custody of Goswami and two other arrested accused Feroze Shaikh and Nitesh Sarda.
The police sought the sessions court to quash the CJM order and grant them custody of the three accused.
The sessions court at Alibaug, around 90km from Mumbai, hear the application on November 7.
"Taking into consideration the reasons behind the arrest of the accused persons and the arguments put forth by the accused persons, the arrest appears to be prima facie illegal," the CJM said.
CJM Pingle noted that the chain of circumstances, the reason behind the deaths of Anvay Naik and his mother Kumodini Naik, and its connection with the accused persons are not established by the prosecution.
"There is no cogent evidence submitted that warrants this court to remand the arrested accused to police custody," she said.
A team of the Raigad police picked up Goswami (47) from his residence at Lower Parel in Mumbai on Wednesday morning.
Goswami and the two other accused were later produced before CJM Pingle in Alibaug and remanded in judicial custody.
Goswami is presently kept at a local school that has been designated as a COVID-19 centre for the Alibaug prison.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
