SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CRIMINAL) Diary No(s). 24646/2020

11th November 2020

Petitioner Counsel: Mr. Harish Salve Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar Mr. Abaad Ponda Ms. Malvika Trivedi Mr. Saket Shukla Mr. Vasanth Rajasekaran Mr. Mrinal Ojha Mr. Debarshi Dutta Mr. Rajat Pradhan Mr. Biswadeep Chakravorty Ms. Madhavi Doshi Mr. Sanjeev Sambasivan Mr. Siddhant Kumar Ms. Kajri Roy Ms. Chetna N. Rai Ms. Sheena Iype Mr. Nirnimesh Dube Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan Ms. Rashi Bansal Ms. Esha Bhadoria Mr. Sameer Singh Mr. Mukul Rohtagi Mr. Vijay Agarwal Mr. Mahesh Agarwal Mr. Gaurav Kejriwal Mr. Ishwar Nankni Mr. Aditya Kanodia Mr. Samir Ali Khan Mr. Mudit Jain Mr. Rahul Agarwal Mr. Nishant Rao Mr. Ankit Kohli
Respondent Counsel: Mr. Kabil Sibal Mr. Amit Desai Mr. Devdatta Kamat Mr. Rahul Chitnis Mr. Sachin Patil Mr. Dipak Thakre Mr. Hemant Shah Mr. Geo Joseph Mr. C. U. Singh Mr. F. I. Choudhury Mr. Noor Ul Islam Mr. Vaibhav Karnik
Act Name: Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

HeadLine : Applications for interim bail – Petitioners TV news anchor and two others arrested in case of abetment of suicide – High Court erred in rejecting applications for grant of interim bail – Bail granted subject to each of them executing personal bond in amount of Rs.50,000/- – Petitioners directed to cooperate in investigation and not to interfere with ongoing investigation or with witnesses.

Section :
Section 439 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

JUDGEMENT

1. Leave granted.

2. We have heard Mr Harish Salve, Mr Mukul Rohatgi, Mr Siddharth Bhatnagar and Mr Gopal Sankaranarayanan, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants.

3. Mr Kapil Sibal, learned Senior Counsel appears on behalf of the State of Maharashtra, Mr Amit Desai, learned Senior Counsel appears on behalf of the second respondent and Mr C U Singh, learned Senior Counsel appears on behalf of the fifth respondent.

4. Mr Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor General appears on behalf of the Union of India.

5. The third respondent, namely, the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai need not be served separately having regard to the appearance by Mr Kapil Sibal and Mr Amit Desai, respectively, for the State and for the investigating officer.

6. Arguments have been heard during the course of the day.

7. The appeals before this Court arise from the order of the Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Mumbai dated 9 November 2020, by which the applications for the grant of the interim bail moved by the appellants pending the disposal of their writ petitions have been rejected.

8. The submissions of the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the rival contesting parties would be evaluated in the judgment for which reasons shall follow. The judgment is reserved.

9. We are of the considered view that the High Court was in error in rejecting the applications for the grant of interim bail. We accordingly order and direct that Arnab Manoranjan Goswami, Feroz Mohammad Shaikh and Neetish Sarda shall be released on interim bail, subject to each of them executing a personal bond in the amount of Rs 50,000 to be executed before the Jail Superintendent. They are, however, directed to cooperate in the investigation and shall not make any attempt to interfere with the ongoing investigation or with the witnesses.

10. The concerned jail authorities and the Superintendent of Police, Raigad are directed to ensure that this order is complied with forthwith.

11. A certified copy of this order shall be issued during the course of the day.

Decision : Bail granted.