On Friday, the Apex Court issued a notice of contempt to the secretary of the Maharashtra assembly for writing a letter to Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami on Oct 13 for breaching the confidentiality of the proceedings of the House by approaching the Supreme Court against the breach of privilege notice.
The Supreme Court asked the secretary of the Maharashtra assembly to remain present during the hearing on this letter to take place after two weeks. Till then, the court ordered no arrest of Goswami in the privilege matter. The bench headed by CJI SA Bobde appointed Arvind Datar, a senior advocate, as amicus to assist in the matter.
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The Top Court noted that the letter seriously interferes with the administration of justice as it intimidates Goswami for approaching Court. The bench also comprising justice AS Bopanna & justice V Ramasubramanian termed the letter by the assembly secretary as unprecedented & shocking.
The Court said that “The clear intention of the author of the letter seems to be to intimidate the petitioner because he approached the Court & to threaten him with a penalty for doing so,” it said.
It added, “The assembly should be well advised to understand that the right to approach this Court under Art 32 of Constitution is itself a fundamental right".
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Attorney General KK Venugopal to assist in this matter. The letter of Oct 13 was produced before the court by Goswami’s lawyer Harish Salve who submitted an application with an affidavit by 47-year-old journalist’s wife as he is in jail.
Goswami was arrested on Wednesday from his house in Mumbai & was then taken to Alibag in connection with a 2018 case of abetment to suicide. Designer Anvay Naik & his mother Kumud Naik died of suicide & named Goswami as one of the three people who didn’t pay dues amounting to Rs 5.4 crore.
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