The founder and the editor-in-chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami was questioned by the Mumbai Police for his allegedly spreading communal hate and defaming Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The questioning went on for 12 hours.
An FIR had been filed against Goswami for his alleged derogatory remarks against the Congress leader on his show about the lynching of three people in the Palghar region of Maharashtra. The FIR was registered after the Power Minister of Maharashtra Nitin Raut lodged a complaint. The Republic TV chief has been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code including deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, promoting enmity between two groups on grounds of religion or race, for giving provocation with intent to cause a riot and criminal conspiracy and defamation.
12.5 hours of questioning
Upon the orders of the Supreme Court, the FIR registered at Nagpur’s Sadar Police station was transferred to the NM Joshi Marg police station in Mumbai. After this, the Mumbai police issued two notices to the Republic TV Chief to appear for questioning. Following this, Goswami put out a statement which said,
“The Mumbai Police has sent me two notices in the last 12 hours saying they want to immediately interrogate me regarding my comments on Sonia Gandhi. As a law-abiding citizen, I will cooperate with the investigation and subject myself to interrogation tomorrow morning. I would also urge the Mumbai Police to show similar alacrity and a sense of immediacy in investigating the attack on me and my wife, also a senior colleague at Republic TV at 12.15 am on April 23.”
Goswami appeared before the NM Joshi Marg Police on Monday morning with his lawyer Sujay Kantawala and was questioned for 12.5 hours. Goswami came out of the station in the night and spoke to the media stationed outside and said,
“The interrogation that was done was about my comments on Sonia Gandhi. I have made it very clear that I stand by my comments. I have made it absolutely clear that everything I have said is correct. I have told the police my side of the story, and they are fully satisfied. I have cooperated with the investigation under the notice given to me. I am grateful to the Mumbai Police for hearing me today and I am grateful to my lawyer.”
Source: Free Press Journal
