TRP Scam: Give prior notice of 3 days before arresting Arnab Goswami, says Bombay HC
Mumbai, Mar 24: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Mumbai Police to give the advance notice of three days to Republic TV's editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami if it wanted to arrest him in the Television Rating Point (TRP) scam case.
A bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale also accepted the statement made by the Maharashtra government that the probe against Republic TV, other employees of ARG Outlier Media which runs all Republic TV channels, and other television channels, will be completed within 12 weeks.
The court was hearing a bunch of pleas filed by Goswami and ARG media seeking several reliefs in the case.
The petitioners had claimed the crime branch of the Mumbai police had no evidence against them but it was prolonging the probe by merely naming them as suspects in the chargesheet.
In the last hearing on Monday, the HC told the police that it could not go on investigating for months without naming someone as accused in a case.
Citing the material on record, the HC felt that the police did not have anything substantial against Goswami in the case.
The petitioners' counsel Ashok Mundargi had urged the high court to protect Goswami and other ARG employees named as suspects in the chargesheet from any coercive action till the time the probe is on.
On Wednesday, while the bench directed the police to give a prior notice of three days to Goswami if it chose to summon or arrest him in the case, it said such relief cannot be granted to several unnamed employees in the petition, who were merely suspects and not accused.
The HC said Mundargi's request for a stay on the investigation could not be granted as there was "no clarity on who was the accused and who was not".
"If during the course of the investigation, you come across something and you want to take coercive action against petitioner number 2, then you will give 72 hours' prior notice (to Goswami)," the bench said.
The HC will continue hearing the arguments on June 28.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
