SC rejects Arnab Goswami’s plea to transfer case from Bom Police to CBI

The Supreme Court has rejected the plea of Republic TV Editor-in-Chief, Arnab Goswami, to transfer the cases filed against him from Mumbai Police to CBI. Earlier, a two Judges bench had reserved the judgment on this plea to transfer his cases.

The Apex Court has held that displeasure of an accused in an ongoing investigation cannot be the sole reason to transfer a case as it will derail the legitimate course of law. The court also pointed out that the power to transfer a case is an extraordinary power which can only be used in exceptional cases and transfer of cases in a normal circumstance would render the concept of ‘extraordinary’ meaningless.

The court also took notice of long interrogating hours, and have said that this cannot be accepted as a ground to transfer the case as the investigating agency is entitled to determine the length of investigation and the nature of questions to be asked. The court also responded to the allegation of Mumbai Police having a conflict of interest in the Palghar incident. It said that Mumbai Police does not have the territorial jurisdiction to probe the Palghar incident.

Last month, FIRs were filed against Goswami after he allegedly made comments which aimed to cause communal disturbance on his shows on the Palghar lynching case and Bandra incident where hundreds of migrants gathered near the Bandra Railway Station. Arnab had earlier asked the court to quash all the FIRs against him as they were allegedly to silence him as a journalist. The court has quashed all except one FIR against him, which was being investigated by the Mumbai Police and he was granted three weeks interim protection against such FIRs, which was subsequently extended.