Senior Advocate Arun Shyam, representing Goswami, argued that his client was merely raising a question and expressing an opinion.
Published May 22, 2025 | 7:30 PM ⚊ Updated May 22, 2025 | 7:30 PM
On his primetime show, Goswami showed a picture of a building in Turkey’s capital, Istanbul, asserting that it was the Congress’s registered office in the country.
Synopsis: The Karnataka High Court on 22 May issued an interim stay on the investigation into the FIR filed against BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya and Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami. The FIR was based on a Congress complaint alleging that Goswami and Malviya falsely claimed the party had an official office in Turkey.
The Karnataka High Court on Thursday, 22 May, granted an interim stay on further investigation into the First Information Report (FIR) filed against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Information Technology (IT) Cell head Amit Malviya and Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, LiveLaw reported.
The FIR was registered under Sections 192 (provocation with intent to cause riot) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, following a criminal complaint filed by the Congress on 20 May.
The complaint was lodged after Goswami, on his primetime programme aired on Republic TV on 15 May, claimed that the Congress had an official presence in Turkey, showing an image of a convention centre. The claim was subsequently repeated by Malviya on his social media accounts.
A single-judge vacation bench comprising Justice S Rachaiah passed the interim order while hearing petitions filed by both Malviya and Goswami, who sought to quash the FIR, despite opposition from the prosecution.
The bench issued notices to the respondents and stayed further investigation until the next hearing.
Referring to a Supreme Court ruling in the case involving Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah, the prosecution argued that the investigation was allowed to proceed in a similar context and should be permitted here as well.
Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Arun Shyam, representing Goswami, argued that his client was merely raising a question and expressing an opinion.
“The petitioner aired a programme in which he questioned whether Turkey, being against our national interest, warranted a political party having an office in that country. That was his opinion, expressed on a news channel,” he told the court, according to LiveLaw.
“The same content was published digitally, where a picture was inadvertently posted purporting to show the political party’s office, but it was not an actual image of the party’s office. A junior editor posted it by oversight, and we clarified the error immediately. Absolutely no case is made out.”
On his primetime show, Goswami showed a picture of a building in Turkey’s capital, Istanbul, asserting that it was the Congress’s registered office in the country.
It was later shared online by Malviya and gained traction amid growing calls for a boycott of Turkish goods and tourism, fuelled by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s vocal support for Pakistan following Operation Sindoor.
In response, the Congress filed a complaint accusing Goswami and Malviya of deliberately spreading false information.
“Maliciously propagating the fabricated claim that the Istanbul Congress Center in Türkiye is the office of the Indian National Congress (INC). This act was executed with clear and undeniable criminal intent to deceive the Indian public, defame a major political institution, manipulate nationalist sentiments, incite public unrest, and undermine national security and democratic integrity,” the complaint read.
“Indian citizens, in a display of patriotic protest, have initiated a widespread boycott of Turkish tourism, products, and economic engagements. By falsely portraying the Istanbul Congress Center as an INC office, the accused have pursued the criminal objectives.”
According to the report by Alt News, the building shown in the Republic segment, which has been referred to as the registered office of the INC in Turkey, is actually the Istanbul Congress Center.
It is a convention centre located in the Harbiye neighbourhood of the Şişli district in Istanbul, Türkiye. It was inaugurated on 17 October 2009 and is owned by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
Republic TV later issued a public apology on its digital platforms, distancing Goswami from the image used and attributing the error to a junior video editor on their digital team.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
