Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against Republic TV and its Editor-in-Chief, Arnab Goswami, in a case related to allegedly offensive remarks made by a panelist against the Marwari community during a live debate show.
Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul) delivered the judgment on April 8, 2025, emphasizing that the essential ingredients required to constitute the alleged offenses were not present against the petitioners.
The court was hearing a criminal revision petition seeking the quashing of proceedings in Phoolbagan P.S. Case No. 99/2020 under Sections 153A/153B/500/504/120B of the Indian Penal Code and related notices issued to Goswami under Section 41-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The case stemmed from comments made by panelist Subhojit Ghosh during a live debate on Republic TV on April 21, 2020, in which he made remarks about “dishonest Marwaris” allegedly involved in black marketing in West Bengal during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court was also apprised of excerpts from the broadcast, during which Goswami immediately reprimanded the panelist on air, stating, “What? What do you mean by that? I mean, what kind of a comment is that?” The broadcast recordings showed that Goswami and other panelists condemned the remarks during the live show.
In its judgment, the court observed: “As the statement was made during a live show, it can be presumed that the petitioners did not foresee such a statement being made by a panelist.” The court added, “There is nothing to show that there was any overt act on the part of the petitioners which led the panelist to make such a statement.”
Addressing the principles of press freedom, the court noted that while Republic TV had shared an unedited clip of the incident while condemning it, this was part of responsible journalism rather than an attempt to further offensive content.
The court ruled that “the ingredients required to constitute the offences alleged against the petitioners not having been prima facie made out, permitting the proceedings to continue against the petitioners will be an abuse of the process of law.”
Therefore, the court concluded: “The proceeding in Phoolbagan P.S. Case No. 99/2020 dated 22nd April, 2020, under Sections 153A/153B/500/504/120B of the Indian Penal Code are hereby quashed along with all notices therein under the Cr.P.C. in respect of the petitioners herein, being Arnab Goswami and ARG Outlier Media Private Limited.”
Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani, Senior Advocate, appeared for the petitioners, while Mr. Kishore Dutta, learned Attorney General, represented the State.
Case: Mr. Arnab Goswami & Anr. Vs. The State of West Bengal & Anr.
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