Twitter exploded in anticipation of another possible arrest of Arnab Goswami on Tuesday after his lawyer informed the Bombay High Court that the Mumbai Police had chased the Republic TV founder all the way to Delhi in a bid to take him into custody. This came amidst immediately after it emerged that the Maharashtra Assembly had given an extension to the breach of privilege committee an extension till February to submit its report against Goswami and actor Kangana Ranaut. If found guilty, both could face a jail term.
Goswami’s lawyer on Tuesday told a Bombay High Court Bench comprising Justice SS Shinde and MS Karnik that a team of the Mumbai Police had left for Delhi arrest Goswami in the TRP scam case. Senior advocate Aabad Ponda, according to Bar and Bench, told the court, Milords I am making a solemn statement that the Maharashtra Police has reached Delhi to arrest them. I have received a message at 2.30 pm. It is there on my phone.”
Ponda: Milords I am making a solemn statement that the Maharashtra Police has reached Delhi to arrest them. I bave received a message at 2.30 pm. It is there on my phone.
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) December 15, 2020
Goswami’s company ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd, which controls Republic TV, had approached the high court challenging the FIR filed in the TRP scam case implicating the channel. Goswami’s CEO was arrested by the Mumbai Police last week in connection with the TRP scam. After Ponda’s apprehension on a possible arrest of his client, the Chief Public Prosecutor stated that no coercive steps ‘will be taken against persons referred to in running page 21 of the charge sheet filed by Mumbai Police in the TRP case’ till Wednesday.This meant that the Mumbai Police could arrest Goswami today if the court doesn’t provide relief to the controversial anchor.
Here’s how Twitterati reacted:
Dear Maharashtra Govt. & police
If you had paid the same attention in #PalgharSadhuLynching as in #ArnabGoswami case justice would have been done to the massacre of those sadhus by now.#justice #FreeRepublicCEONow #MumbaiPolice #StopillegalArrestOfArnab pic.twitter.com/b5Hf7EeP5I— Gayathri Bandari (@GayathriBandar7) December 15, 2020
Mumbai Police is obsessed of #ArnabGoswami. They reached Delhi to arrest him again! Sheer desperation this is..@DelhiPolice must quarantine them as they did to the Patna police.#StopillegalArrestOfArnab pic.twitter.com/lcfYCBPYUl
— Sushrita (@SushritaR) December 15, 2020
If Arnab Goswami is a Journalist then Earth is flat.
— Anurag (@Anuragkukreti7) December 11, 2020
Maharashtra police can travel 1500 kms to arrest #ArnabGoswami but cannot travel few meters to file a chargesheet in Palgarh lynching case.
Let that sink in.
— Smoking Skills (@SmokingSkills_) December 15, 2020
Earlier Goswami was arrested in the abetment to suicide case and had to spend seven days in a Navi Mumbai jail. He was released after the Supreme Court took an extraordinary step to grant him bail.
