News Brief
Karnataka High Court Stays Investigation Against Arnab Goswami in Fake News Case
Karnataka High Court (Pic Via Wikimedia)
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday (17 December) granted an interim stay on all investigations against journalist and Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami in a case filed by the Bengaluru police in March 2024.
The case pertained to an alleged fake news report aired by Republic TV Kannada about Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The FIR was registered based on a complaint by Karnataka Congress member Ravindra MV, who accused Goswami of airing a story claiming that traffic on Bengaluru’s MG Road was halted to allow the Chief Minister’s convoy to pass, causing an ambulance to be delayed.
The complainant stated that Siddaramaiah was not in Bengaluru at the time but in Mysuru.
Goswami was booked under Section 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly promoting enmity or ill-will between classes.
Granting the interim stay, Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that Section 505(2) could not be applied in the present case, even in its “remotest form,” and criticised the complainant for a reckless registration of the case.
“What has Arnab Goswami done? There is a plethora of things brought out by him. It might have proved good for some and bad for others but where is the case of inciting? We will hear both parties but now we will stay the investigation,” the judge added.
Senior Advocate Aruna Shyam, representing Goswami, argued that the news report was deleted as soon as the channel realised it was inaccurate.
Shyam also pointed out that the complainant had been “overenthusiastic” and had even suggested the IPC provision to be applied in the complaint.
"The petitioner is the executive director of Republic TV. He is now hauled into these proceedings for the offence under Section 505(2) of the IPC. The crux of the private complaint against him in the case is that a news report was aired on Republic TV Kannada where there was information about public suffering due to zero traffic instructions during the Chief Minister’s movements. The news appeared to be a canard. Immediately thereafter, the news was deleted. All of this happened within 24 hours. By then, the complainant has sought to register the crime. It is not understandable how 505(2) could spring even in the remotest sense in the present case. Therefore, it is a case of reckless registration of crime by the complainant,” the High Court said while granting relief to Goswami, Bar and Bench reported.
The Court scheduled the hearing for Goswami’s plea to quash the FIR on 16 January 2025.
