Criticised for hearing case on Saturday, Bombay High Court denies 'high on board' listing of Arnab Goswami's plea

The Bombay High Court on Thursday declined a request to list Arnab Goswami's plea in the abetment to suicide case 'high on board' stating that the Court took a lot of flak from various quarters for hearing the case on a Saturday which is otherwise a non-working day. .A Bench of Justice SS Shinde and MS Karnik was hearing the plea filed by Goswami challenging the chargesheet filed the Raigad Police in the case of abetment to suicide of interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother Kumud Naik..Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda appearing for Goswami, sought an adjournment of the matter and asked that it be heard next week with a request to list the matter 'high on board'. While agreeing to grant an adjournment to hear the matter through video conferencing the Court categorically refused to fix the matter 'high on board'. "When we passed the interim order, you had told us, you were grateful for a hearing but we were criticized for sitting on a Saturday. I have received more than 500 messages criticising for sitting on Saturday. So we have stopped putting anything high on board, or low on board. Matter will come up," Justice Shinde said. .We were criticized for sitting on a Saturday. I have received more than 500 messages criticising for sitting on Saturday. So we have stopped putting anything high on board, or low on board.Justice SS Shinde.The Court was referring to the hearing which took place on November 7, 2020, when they had heard and reserved their verdict on the bail application filed by Arnab Goswami in the present plea along with connected pleas..The Court had agreed to hear the matter on Saturday after obtaining the consent of all parties on Friday to hear only on the limited issue of interim bail..Ponda on Thursday sought adjournment on the ground that Senior Advocate Harish Salve who is the lead counsel the matter wanted to appear through video conference. Salve is currently arguing before the Supreme Court in the Tata v. Mistry case. Ponda, therefore, added that in the meantime, the court can grant leave to amend the petition to include additional grounds..The Court proceeded to adjourn the matter and all connected cases for December 16, 2020 through video conferencing.The court also granted leave to State to file their replies before that date..Goswami had initially filed an application seeking a stay on the filing of chargesheet by the Raigad Police in the abetment to suicide case..Subsequently, when the Raigad police filed its chargesheet, Goswami filed a new application seeking directions to the Chief Judicial Magistrate to not take cognizance of the chargesheet filed..The High Court had rejected Goswami's bail application filed in the present plea. Bail was later granted by Supreme Court on November 11 and extended till the disposal of plea by High Court.