High Court grants interim bail to Times Now Navbharat staff

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has extended interim bail to Times Now Navbharat reporter Bhawana Kishore while granting bail to the channel's cameraman Mrityunjay Kumar and driver Parminder Singh on Tuesday.

In its judgment, the court stated that both Mritunjay and Parminder's arrests were illegal. The court also noted that the provisions of the law were not considered by the arresting police officer and remanding magistrate in the matter.

The court has granted further liberty to both of them to move the trial court for full bail. Bhawana's interim bail has been extended until the next date of hearing before the High Court on May 22.


In a statement, Times Network said the judgment is a big relief for the channel and its staffers. It added the trio was tormented and harassed in the aftermath of 'Operation Sheesh Mahal' wherein Times Now Navbharat uncovered details of the ultra-lavish and disproportionate expenditure incurred in refurbishing the official residence of the Delhi CM.

Times Now Navbharat is part of The Times Group, India's largest media conglomerate.

The network said Kishore, along with Kumar and Singh, were implicated in a staged road accident on May 5 when they went to cover a political programme presided over by Arvind Kejriwal in Ludhiana.

It added the trio was falsely accused of using casteist remarks against a group of women, believed to be AAP workers, who in an e-rickshaw first rammed into the team's car, got into a brawl, and called Ludhiana police.

The network also said Kishore's illegal arrest violated several rules, including being detained without a lady police officer, being arrested after sunset, being denied legal and telephone access, and being forced to sign documents in Gurmukhi, a language she didn't understand.

Mrityunjay, who was just a passenger in the car involved in the alleged accident, was illegally and unnecessarily detained and has spent four nights in Jail in gross disrespect of his dignity as a citizen, the network said.