The Maharashtra Police on Friday filed a chargesheet against Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and two others in the 2018 abetment to suicide case of Anvay Naik, reported PTI. The other two accused named in the chargesheet, filed before a court in Alibaug in Raigad district, are Firoze Sheikh and Nitish Sarda.
As many as 65 people have been named witnesses, special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat told PTI.
On Thursday, journalist Goswami had moved the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on filing of chargesheet and further investigation into the case. He had also sought transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation or any other independent investigating agency which is outside the purview of the Maharashtra government.
“Allowing chargesheet to be filed would be a grotesque mockery of directions and law laid down by the Supreme Court in its order of November 27,” his petition said. The court will hear the matter on December 10.
Goswami, Shaikh and Sarda are accused in Naik’s abetment to suicide case. Naik and his mother were found dead in their home in Kavir village near Mumbai in 2018. A suicide note said that the Goswami, Shaikh and Sarda had not paid dues amounting to Rs 5.4 crore.
The trio were arrested on November 4. The journalist got bail from the Supreme Court on November 11. Last week, the Supreme Court elaborated on its reasons for granting bail to Goswami and noted that criminal law should not become “a tool for selective harassment of citizens”.
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