Cong seeks Arnab’s arrest for breaching Official Secrets Act

The Congress, on Wednesday, filed two separate complaints against Republic TV Editor-in Chief Arnab Goswami, demanding his immediate arrest for the breach of section 5 of the Official Secrets Act and also for committing treason in connection with Chat Gate. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Sachin Sawant, who was accompanied by party activists, said that the WhatsApp chats between Goswami and Broadcast Audience Research Council’s former CEO Partho Dasgupta have shaken the faith of common India. However, no case has been registered by the police on the complaint submitted by Congress, officers said. “The chat has revealed that Goswami and his friends might have accessed state secrets through their network of corruption in the central government and, thereby, compromised India’s security and national interests,” he alleged. He said that individuals in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government not only gave Goswami unprecedented access to the secret matters, but also helped him cheat the public exchequer of crores of rupees.

In another complaint filed by former Member of the Parliament (MP) Hussian Dalwai, Congress also demanded that Goswami should be arrested for treason. Dalwai claimed that WhatsApp chats have revealed that Goswami was getting secret and sensitive information, which he used to increase the channel's television rating points (TRP).

When contacted, a senior police officer said that Congress has given a memorandum at a number of police stations, seeking the lodging of their complaint and demanding the arrest of Goswami for allegedly breaching the Official Secrets Act. No formal case, however, was lodged against Goswami to probe the matter further.