Malicious Attempt by Shri Dushyant Dave to Cause Prejudice to the Hearing of my Husband Arnab Goswami’s Petition in SC

The President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Dushyant Dave, has written a letter to the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court voicing his strong opinion against extraordinary urgent listing of the SLP filed by Republic TV Chief Arnab Goswami. The case dates back to 2018. Mr Goswami is booked on alleged grounds of abetment to suicide in the said case.

Mr Goswami has been arrested and kept in judicial custody since November 4. 

Although Mr Dave acknowledged Mr Goswami's fundamental right to move the Supreme Court. He voiced his strong concerns over the selective listing of matters in the Supreme Court registry since the last eight months. 

"While thousands of Citizens remain in jails , languishing for long periods while their matters filed before the Honble Supreme Court are not getting listed for weeks and months , it is , to say the least, deeply disturbing as to how and why every time Mr Goswami approaches the Supreme Court his matter gets listed instantly"- Mr Dushyant Dave

Mr Dave also alleged that Mr Goswami is being given special preference with regard to the listing of his case.

"Likes of Shri Goswami get special treatment while ordinary Indians are made to suffer , including Imprisonment, which are many times illegal and unauthorised'

In conclusion, he urged the Secretary to install a foolproof system to ensure urgent listing on well known principles 

Meanwhile, a vacation Bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee decided to consider the petition of Mr Goswami.

Mrs Arnab Goswami calls Mr Dave's letter a malicious attempt to cause prejudice to the hearing in SC

Ms Samyabrata Ray expressed her shock and labelled the contentions made by Mr Dave as selective outrage.

Please find the full text of Mrs Goswami's letter below

"Dear Sir,

I am shocked at the publicly circulated abhorrent letter by Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave to the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court of India, implying that due process was not followed in the listing of the Special Leave Petition filed on behalf of my husband Arnab Goswami, who tonight spends his 7th night in custody which is clearly in breach of his fundamental and human rights.

My husband, a leading journalist of a national channel, was dragged, assaulted and then illegally arrested on 4th November 2020. He was paraded without footwear, and an attempt was made by the law & order machinery of the State of Maharashtra to rob him of his dignity. Two days ago, he was denied legal access and taken to Taloja Jail after a morning assault in custody. He publicly expressed, while being transported to Taloja Jail, that his life was in danger.

For over a month now, our newsroom, our editorial staff, our management and on-ground teams of Republic Media Network have borne the brunt of a vindictive campaign at the hands of the state machinery of Maharashtra. My husband, Arnab Goswami and the entire team at Republic has followed due process of law irrespective of the ongoing trampling of the free press and Emergency-like situation prevailing in the state of Maharashtra.

Today, when I read Shri Dave’s letter, I am shocked and horrified at the extent to which certain vested interests are at work. Neither do I know Shri Dave, nor have I ever met him. However, the selective targeting of my husband’s petition by Shri Dave shall have to be opposed by me, given his silence on other matters which were taken up by this Hon’ble Supreme Court in its wisdom with urgency in the past. Shri Dave’s silence in the following matters and his selective outrage in the present case is not only prejudicial to the cause of justice for my husband but is contemptuous as it tends to interfere with the administration of justice.

It is a fact that on 29 August 2019 a petition in Romila Thappar vs Union of India (Writ Petition (criminal) Diary No. 32319/2018) was taken up by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on the same day. This was a case in which one of the lawyers for the petitioner was Shri Dushyant Dave, who ironically is the author of the letter to the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court of India questioning the speed of listing of my husband’s case. The duplicity of the author speaks volumes of motivated intent. This was a matter not filed by any aggrieved parties but by few “public-spirited persons” seeking to “protect human rights and fundamental freedoms” of certain individuals who are allegedly involved in alleged Naxalite activities.

It is public knowledge that on 14th June 2020, in the peak of the COVID pandemic, a special hearing was granted on a Sunday to another senior journalist Shri Vinod Dua in a petition filed by him under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India challenging the FIR filed against him. The timeframe of the listing then seems to have eluded the SCBA President’s memory, thereby giving me a strong reason to believe that the present attack on my husband and attempt to stall due process are a case of selective outrage.

Further, I have been informed that in the case of Prashant Bhushan versus Jaydev Rajnikant the writ petition was filed on 30 April 2020 (again under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India) in the Supreme Court seeking to quash an FIR registered against him by Gujarat police and the matter was listed to be heard on 1 May, 2020. Again, there was a stony silence on the part of Mr Dave on this development.

In view of the aforesaid, I have a strong reason to believe that the letter referred to above is an attempt to sully the character of my husband by selectively targeting him and prejudice his case which is up for hearing in the Supreme Court tomorrow. I believe that there is an attempt to jeopardise the cause of justice in my husband’s petition and to cast a shadow on the hearing on the matter.

As terrifyingly, by making repulsive insinuations regarding the wielding of influence over the highest judicial officers of this country, I believe Shri Dave has attempted to tarnish the reputation, the integrity, and the independence of the great institution of judiciary and has also attempted to cause prejudice to the free and fair course of justice.

My husband is an honest journalist of over 20 years. He has built India’s number 1 news network on the foundations of principles, integrity and accountability. While the questions he may ask might make some quarters uncomfortable, what is playing out today is an attempt to use state machinery to browbeat, fix and frame a journalist and threaten his life.

I am deeply disturbed that his life is under threat and that he has been in jail meant for hardened criminals. I fear for his life and future as I appeal to the highest courts of this country to deliver him and our justice.

I look to you with great hope, and inextinguishable faith in the judiciary - as a wife seeking justice and as a citizen of this great country"

The Supreme Court heard both the parties on Wednesday and ordered the release of Arnab Goswami on interim bail.