Out of jail! Arnab Goswami gets bail from Supreme Court - Here is what apex court said about Maharashtra govt

In a major development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to journalist Arnab Goswami in the 2018 abetment to suicide case. A vacation bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee also granted interim bail to two others -- Nitish Sarda and Parveen Rajesh Singh -- on personal bond of Rs 50,000 each. The bench said their release should not be delayed and the prison authorities should facilitate this.

Also, the Supreme Court questioned the Maharashtra government over the 2018 abetment to suicide case against journalist Arnab Goswami and said that it would be a travesty of justice if personal liberty of a person is curtailed like this. A vacation bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee said if state governments target individuals, they must realise then that there is apex court to protect the liberty of citizens. The top court expressed concern over state governments targeting some individuals on the basis of ideology and difference of opinion.

The top court directed that Goswami, Sarda and Singh shall not tamper with evidence and cooperate in the probe in the case.

Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, had challenged the Bombay High Court's November 9 order refusing to grant him and two others interim bail in the case and asking them to move the trial court for relief.

The accused were arrested by Alibaug police in Maharashtra's Raigad district on November 4 in connection with the suicide of architect-interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother in 2018 over alleged non-payment of dues to them by the companies of the accused.

Goswami was initially kept at a local school which is designated as a COVID-19 quarantine centre for the Alibaug prison. He was on Sunday shifted to the Taloja jail in Raigad district after allegedly being found using a mobile phone while in judicial custody.