First Among Equals

'In the late evening on 21st April 2020, Arnab Goswami, the Editor-in-chief of Republic TV, in purported exercise of his right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, made certain comments against former Congress President, Sonia Gandhi. He stated that Mrs. Gandhi is "happy" and will be sending a "report to Italy" in order to gain "praises" as she has gotten "saints" killed in a State which is governed partly by the political party she belongs to.

The tirade by Mr. Goswami led to a multitude of FIR's being filed across various States including Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telengana, Jharkhand and the freshly made Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, alleging, to put it simply – the spreading of fake news.

On 23.04.2020, Goswami chose, as is his right, to approach the Supreme Court directly instead of the Bombay High Court due to the multiplicity of proceedings arising out of the same incident in various states and prayed that all such complaints/FIRs lodged against him be quashed...

At the same time, as a member of the legal fraternity I find it my responsibility to question and seek clarity over the lightening speed in which a matter appears to have been filed, mentioned for urgency, evaluated, allowed and listed within a span of 14 odd hours...'

[Full article on Live Law.]