Karnataka HC stays probe against Arnab Goswami in fake news case
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Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay on probe in a case against Republic News editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami after he was accused of airing fake news against Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, according to Bar and Bench.
The case was linked to a report that Republic TV Kannada aired on March 27 alleging that an ambulance was not allowed to pass after traffic in Bengaluru’s MG Road area was stopped for Siddaramaiah.
A Congress member named Ravindra MV in a complaint pointed out that the chief minister was in fact in Mysuru at the time.
Goswami, the managing director of the Republic Media Network that owns Republic TV Kannada, approached the High Court seeking to quash the case against him.
The case was filed under an Indian Penal Code section about promoting ill-will between different groups.
Lawyer Aruna Shyam representing Goswami informed the court that the TV channel deleted the report upon finding out that it was incorrect.
Granting relief to Arnab Goswami, the court said: ‘The petitioner is the executive director of Republic TV. He is now hauled into these proceedings for the offence under Section 505(2) of the IPC. The crux of the private complaint against him in the case is that a news report was aired on Republic TV Kannada where there was information about public suffering due to zero traffic instructions during the Chief Minister’s movements. The news appeared to be a canard. Immediately thereafter, the news was deleted. All of this happened within 24 hours. By then, the complainant has sought to register the crime. It is not understandable how 505(2) could spring even in the remotest sense in the present case. Therefore, it is a case of reckless registration of crime by the complainant.’
The case will be heard next on January 16.