Arnab Goswami seeks pre-arrest bail in second case

MUMBAI: A day before his liberty was restored by the Supreme Court, Arnab Goswami also filed for pre-arrest bail before Mumbai sessions court in connection with a case registered by the city police for allegedly resisting arrest and obstruction of public servants from doing their official duty on November 4.
The N M Joshi Marg in Mumbai has last Wednesday registered an FIR against Republic TV’s Goswami, his wife, son and two others for allegedly assaulting police officials and trying to obstruct them when they reached his house in Lower Parel to arrest him in a 2018 case. His wife too filed for pre-arrest bail. An Alibaug police team had arrested Goswami in a case of alleged abetment of a May 2018 suicide of Anvay Naik, an interior designer who had worked on his TV studio.

The police booked him and his wife under Section 353 of Indian Penal Code (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duty), Section 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace and 506 (criminal intimidation) and under the Damage to Public Property Act. Section 353 is non-bailable and attracts a punishment of maximum two years’ imprisonment.

Though listed for hearing on Wednesday before the sessions court, it was deferred since the Supreme Court was seized of his challenge to the HC rejection of interim relief.