Bombay High Court Stays Order Halting Journalist's Expulsion From Mumbai Press Club Over Inviting Bhima Koregaon Case Accused

The Bombay High Court on Friday (May 22) stayed a trial court order which had halted the expulsion of senior journalist Gurbir Singh from the Mumbai Press Club (MPC), for allegedly holding an event attended by eight accused named in the Bhima Koregaon - Elgar Parishad case.

In doing so, the High cCurt held that the trial court, in the interim order, had not disclosed its reasons for granting sweeping ad-interim reliefs and "virtually granted the substantive final reliefs".

Vacation bench of Justice Gautam Ankhad stayed the civil court's May 7 order which granted relief to Singh, staying his expulsion from the MPC and permitting him to contest the elections of the Club scheduled in July.

"In my prima facie view, the impugned order does not disclose any reasons which justifies the grant of such sweeping ad-interim reliefs. The trial Court has held that: (i) the principles of natural justice were violated; (ii) Singh was denied an opportunity of cross-examination; (iii) the expulsion was intended to prevent Singh from contesting the Club elections; and (iv) if interim protection is not granted, Singh will not get an opportunity to contest the elections. In my view, the impugned order neither analyses the material placed on record nor assigns any reasons or the basis for arriving at the above conclusion," Justice Ankhad noted.

The High Court noted that a show cause notice was issued to Singh and other members and replies were filed and a personal hearing was also conducted before a three-member Inquiry Committee.

It said that the Report of the Inquiry Committee records that due to certain events no further personal hearing was necessary.

"The trial Court could not have simply held that principles of natural justice were violated without discussing the events recorded therein. The Report is then accepted by two-thirds majority of the Managing Committee. The trial Court could not have stayed the entire disciplinary process without recording reasons demonstrating patent illegality or complete denial of fair hearing.

In my prima facie view, the impugned order also travels far beyond the limited scope of ad-interim protection. By staying the operation, effect, implementation and findings of the show cause notice, Inquiry Report and Resolution of the Managing Committee, and further directing that Singh is permitted to contest the elections of the Club, the trial Court has virtually granted the substantive final reliefs," Justice Ankhad held.

With these observations, the bench opined that the MPC has made out a strong prima facie case that the impugned order is perverse and the discretion exercised by the trial Court is untenable.

Notably, the accused the Bhima Koregaon case - Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde, Hany Babu, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale – all of whom are out on bail, had attended an event on January 19 this year on the terrace of the MPC. This event was organised by Singh and reportedly, it's agenda was to "discuss the legal issues" of the Bhima Koregaon - Elgar Parishad case.

One of the bail conditions imposed by the special court on all the 15 accused in the case is that they will not interact with each other. However, the eight accused, who allegedly attended Singh's event together at the MPC on January 19, 2026, violated this very condition.

Thereafter, the MPC Managing Committee received a complaint from a member and accordingly a three-member Inquiry Committee was constituted, which after hearing Singh, recommended action against him for his conduct of organising the event and inviting the accused persons, which brought 'disrepute' to the Club as it was capable of giving out a message that the Club associated with persons accused of serious offences.

Therefore, the Managing Committee, as per its Bye-laws, on April 26, 2026 resolved to expel Singh for a period of six years from contesting elections. This very decision was challenged by Singh before a civil court by virtue of a suit. On May 7, the civil court by an ad-interim order, directed the MPC to allow Singh to contest the forthcoming elections of the Club, which are likely to take place in July this year.

Challenging this order, the MPC through its secretary Mayuresh Ganapataye moved an appeal, which was initially listed before the bench of Justice Sandesh Patil, who was presiding over a vacation court, who had recused from hearing the matter.

The matter was then listed before Justice Gautam Ankhad, who held that by staying the expulsion of Singh, in an interim order, the civil court granted final prayer to him.

The high court has listed the matter for final arguments on June 15.

Appearance:

Senior Advocate Girish Godbole along with Advocate Abhishek Salian and Kinnari Raut appeared for the Mumbai Press Club. Senior Advocate Shiraz Rustomji along with Advocate Aditya Bapat, Eshan Patel and Shailesh Prajapati instructed by Dua Associates represented Gurbir Singh.

Case Title: Mumbai Press Club vs Gurbir Singh [Appeal From Order (Stamp) 14796 of 2026]

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 268

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