Big Victory For Republic And Free Speech As Calcutta HC Quashes FIR Against Arnab

New Delhi: In a significant victory for Republic Media Network and its Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami , the Calcutta High Court has quashed an FIR filed against him and the network after a complaint was made over a comment made by a panelist during a debate aired on Republic TV’s show “The Debate” on April 21, 2020 at around 9 PM. The FIR pertains to a comment made by a panelist – Subhojit Ghosh – against a particular community – Marwaris – during the broadcast. For uninitiated, Arnab had condemned the remarks made by the panelist on the show. 

The Mamata Banerjee -led government in West Bengal took the matter to the court alleging that Republic TV and Arnab Goswami failed to condemn the panelist's remarks, accusing them of attempting to create a rift between communities. Top lawyers were fielded by the state government in court in a brazen display of intolerance and attempt to restrict Republic.  

However, on Wednesday, the Calcutta High Court ruled in favour of Arnab Goswami, stating that there was no intention on his part to endorse the panelist's comments. The court emphasised that Goswami had condemned the remarks and distanced himself from the views expressed by the panelist.

The court noted that the telecast had been condemned not only on television but across other platforms as well. It clarified that the controversial statement was the personal opinion of the panelist regarding a specific incident.

This ruling follows similar victories for Republic TV and Arnab Goswami in other courts. The Karnataka High Court had earlier dismissed an FIR against them under Section 41A, and a Rajasthan court had granted interim relief in a case filed by a Congress leader.

In its order, the Calcutta High Court stated that the controversial telecast had been condemned by Arnab Goswami, who had distanced himself from the statement, condemned it and never encouraged the statement. He also condemned the act of the panelist and it's for the panelist to issue the apology. The court stated that it was the panelist’s responsibility to issue an apology. This marks as another major legal victory for Arnab Goswami and Republic Media Network.

“In the present case, the petitioners having distanced themselves from the statements made by the panelist condemned such opinions expressed on a public platform and have done so on every platform (public) where it was available for viewing… The petitioners have condemned the act of the panelist having distanced themselves from him and his views. It is for the said panelist to issue an apology if he desires to do so,” the Calcutta HC said.

Speaking after Calcutta High Court's judgement, senior Supreme Court lawyer, Mahesh Jethmalani said that this was a completely false case and no FIR should have ever been launched.

“All I can say that justice was meted out appropriately. The Calcutta High Court judge certainly said that there was absolute no case. In fact, in my view, it was a politically motivated commencement of the investigation and attempted prosecution which failed, thanks to the High Court judge. We should be grateful that we have judges like that to protect the freedom of the press,” Jethmalani added.

Republic Media Network and Arnab Goswami were represented by senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Sandipan Ganguly along with advocates Apalak Basu, Saket Shukla, Nazir Ahmed, Zoeb Cuteriywala, Smita Mukherjee and Saheli Bose, in this case.