Mumbai: The Alibaug District Magistrate’s Court, late on Wednesday, ordered that senior journalist Arnab Goswami and two others, arrested in an alleged case of abetment to suicide, be sent to 14-days judicial custody.
The two other accused in the case were Firoz Shaikh and Nitesh Sarda.
The Bombay High Court will take up Goswami’s plea for dismissal of the case on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Raigad Police had arrested Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, from his residence in Mumbai in connection with the suicide committed by interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother in 2018 for alleged non-payment of dues by the company that runs the news channel.
Goswami’s counsel, Gaurav Parker, said the journalist had filed an application for bail.
“It is a big victory for us. The MCR (magisterial custody remand) was granted on the very first day. The court refused police custody. The bail application will be taken up for arguments on Thursday,” he said.
The court rejected Goswami’s allegation that he was assaulted by the police while arresting him.
Meanwhile, the All India Bar Association (AIBA) has termed his arrest as a violation of the Supreme Court guidelines to protect the rights of the arrestees.
The Editors’ Guild of India, and many ministers and politicians had condemned Goswami’s arrest in connection with the case.
He was taken to jail last night after an unusually long hearing of nearly six hours that went on almost till midnight.
_Vinayak
