No case made out prima facie to keep Arnab Goswami in police custody: Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alibaug observes in remand order

The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alibaug has observed that the police has failed to show a chain of circumstances which would warrant police custody over Republic TV's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami in connection to the FIR filed over the suicide of Anvay Naik in 2018..The Court ultimately rejected the plea for police custody, but remanded Goswami for 14 days in judicial custody..Judge Sunaina Pingle observed that the Raigad police have failed to show why police custody is required for Goswami in the case where the “A” summary has been filed leading the closure of the case earlier..Goswami was arrested in an incident from 2018 in which the closure report was already filed and there was no strong evidence to back for police custody, the CJM observed while rejecting the plea for police custody..Notably, the Court has also added that the grounds for arrest and police custody pleaded by the Prosecution show that the arrest may have also been illegal..The CJM passed the order in an FIR registered by the Raigad Police based on a complaint by one Akshata Naik alleging that Goswami was responsible for the suicide of her husband, Anvay Naik and his mother Kumud Naik who were directors of Concords Designs Pvt. Ltd..The Raigad police had sought 14 days of police custody for carrying out re-opened investigation in the 2018 FIR..Raigad Police seeks 14 days' custody of Arnab Goswami.Additional Public Prosecutor Mahakal submitted before the Court that when the investigation was first conducted in 2018, the police had found no evidence and hence the “A” summary report was filed for closure..Subsequently after the complainant Akshata Naik filed another complaint, the police was compelled to re-start investigation. This time, they found evidence to show that Goswami and the other two accused were connected in the case..He added that it was necessary for the police to have custody over Goswami to ensure that all financial transactions of his company ARG Outlier (Republic TV's parent company) can be scrutinised properly..Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for Goswami, contended that the arrest was illegal..The “A” Summary which was accepted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate in 2019, was not challenged before any appellate or higher court, even Akshata Naik had not challenged the report in any court of law, he added..He argued that the Police had no evidence on record to show the need for re-investigation. Despite this, they went ahead and arrested Goswami without summons or notice, flouting procedure as stipulated under the Code of Criminal Procedure.."Goswami is also ready to pay any alleged amount due to Concorde Designs Pvt. Ltd, company of Anvay Naik, under protest, which leaves no reason for him to be in custody." he asserted while opposing the remand application..Based on the submissions of the parties, the CJM came to the conclusion that the Raigad Police has failed to show the link between the alleged suicides, and Goswami’s connection to those suicides..The CJM failed to see how the Police had sought for remand without bringing strong evidence on record to show that the circumstances leading to the arrest, which warranted his custody for investigation..The CJM also noted that the police failed to show what were the shortcomings and lacunae in the the investigation which was carried out in 2018 which led to re-opening of the investigation..CJM also rejected Arnab's .The CJM had pronounced the operative part of the verdict yesterday remanding Goswami to judicial custody for 14 days. He was arrested in the morning by the Mumbai Police..Breaking: Arnab Goswami remanded to judicial custody for two weeks