(1.) Heard Shri. Harish Salve and Dr. Milind Sathe, learned senior counsel for the petitioner; Mr. Kapil Sibal, learned senior counsel representing the State of Maharashtra for respondent Nos. 1, 5 and 6; Mr. Anil Singh, learned Additional Solicitor General of India for respondent No. 2 i.e., Union of India; Mr. Ashok Mundargi, learned counsel for respondent No. 3; and Mr. Rizwan Merchant, learned counsel for respondent No. 4.
(2.) By filing this petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India and section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, petitioner seeks the following reliefs:-
(3.) Petitioner is a journalist. He is the Editor-in-chief of an English television news channel called Republic TV and a Hindi television news channel called Republic Bharat or R. Bharat. Petitioner hosts various news shows on both the channels. He is also the Managing Director of ARG Outlier Media Pvt. Ltd., the company which owns and operates both the channels.