Arnab Goswami case urgently listed in regards to liberty and freedom of media: SC

"Arnab Goswami case was listed urgently because of the order of a competent authority. It pertained to liberty and freedom of media", the Supreme Court said in its ruling, dismissing the lawyer's plea, alleging the "pick and choose "policy of listing cases by the Registry.

In his injunction request, Advocate Reepak Kansal noted that the Appeal for injunction titled Arnab Ranjan Goswami v. UOI appeared on 23.04.2020 at 8.07 p.m. without annexure and that the Registry did not indicate any defect, and an exclusive complimentary list was uploaded the same day. He said that he filed a complaint to the Secretary-General in this regard, but it did not respond to it.

Concerning these allegations, the bench consists of Judges Arun Mishra and S. Abdul Nazeer made the observations cited above. The bench dismissed the plea noting that accusations made against the Registry of the Court are baseless and reckless. The Court also imposed a cost of Rs.100 (Rupees One Hundred only) on the lawyer 'as a token to remind his responsibility towards the noble profession and that he ought not to have preferred such a petition.'

On 23rd April, the bench consisting Judges D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah had heard the petition filed by Republic TV Anchor requesting for FIR annulment filed against him for disturbing community harmony over the migrant gathering in Bandra.

The Court also granted three weeks of protection against arrest to Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of the Republic TV, based on the FIRs filed against him in the States of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Jammu & Kashmir.

Later, the Court rejected Goswami's appeal to transfer the investigation from police of Maharashtra to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The Court also rejected his plea to withdraw the FIR, saying that the powers under Article 32 of the Constitution cannot be implemented for such purposes. Though, the SC crushed the multiple FIRs filed in various states by the reports and limited the investigation to the FIR lodged only in Mumbai.