Maharashtra govt mulls motion towards Arnab Goswami over data on Balakot airstrike
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh Saturday mentioned the state authorities was in search of authorized opinion on whether or not any motion may very well be taken towards Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami underneath the Official Secrets Act over his purported WhatsApp chats with former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) head Partho Dasgupta concerning the 2019 Balakot airstrike.
Deshmukh, who was addressing a press convention in Mumbai, additionally sought to know from the Centre how Goswami acquired entry to the delicate info.
“The WhatsApp chat shockingly revealed that Arnab had information about the Balakot airstrike three days in advance of the actual incident. We want to ask the central government how Goswami got such sensitive information about the attack, which is otherwise known only to the prime minister, defence minister, Army chief and few select people,” Deshmukh mentioned.
“The Maharashtra government is taking legal opinion on whether the state home department can take action in this connection under the Official Secrets Act, 1923,” he added.
The purported chats between Goswami and Dasgupta talked about that the Republic TV editor was aware about the Balakot air strikes, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) hit the largest JeM coaching camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan, on February 26, 2019. The airstrike was carried out after 40 CRPF personnel have been killed in Kashmir’s Pulwama district days earlier, on February 14, by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group.
On Friday, a protest was held by the Maharashtra Congress over Goswami’s purported WhatsApp chats. The protest was led by metropolis Congress chief Bhai Jagtap close to the Republic TV’s workplace at Worli in south Mumbai.
Earlier, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), too, had requested the central authorities to arrange a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the purported chats between Goswami and Dasgupta.
(With PTI inputs)
