IT Correspondent
Mumbai, Nov 10:
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday spoke to state home minister Anil Deshmukh and conveyed to him his concern over the security and health of arrested Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami. He also asked the home minister to allow Goswami’s family to meet him.
In another development, the Bombay High Court on Monday rejected an interim bail to Goswami and two others- Feroze Shaikh and Nitish Sarda in connection with the 2018 case for abetment of suicide by an interior designer and architect and his mother.
A division Bench of Justices S S Shinde and M S Karnik, “No case is made out for release of the petitioner under extraordinary jurisdiction”. In our opinion, the petitioner (Arnab) has an alternate and efficacious remedy under section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before the concerned court. We have directed the court to decide the bail application within four days of filing of the same, the HC said in its 56 page order.
Goswami was shifted to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai by the Raigad on Sunday morning for allegedly using a mobile phone while in judicial custody inside a make-shift quarantine centre for prisoners located in a municipal school in Alibaug. Goswami is one of the three accused in the abetment to suicide case of an interior designer and his mother.
Investigating office Police Inspector Jamil Shaikh of Raigad crime branch said, “On Friday late evening, we learnt that Goswami was active on social media, using somebody’s mobile phone. His mobile was seized when he was arrested from his Worli residence on Wednesday. As the investigating officer of the case, I wrote to the Alibaug jail superintendent seeking an inquiry report as to how he got access to a mobile phone in the quarantine centre. Thereafter, we decided to shift him to Taloja jail.
While being escorted to Taloja prison, Goswami shouted from inside the moving police van, alleging he was assaulted by the Alibaug jailor and that he was being forcibly taken to Taloja jail. “My life is in danger, please tell the courts to help me,’’ he screamed from inside the van. When I wanted to speak to my lawyer, I was assaulted in jail by the jailer,’’ he said. Goswami, was arrested by Mumbai Police on 04 November,4 in connection with a 2018 abetment to suicide case.
In the meanwhile Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said that all precautions to ensure safety of Goswami will be taken while he is in jail. However as per rules his family members cannot be allowed while the trial is on.
