The alleged manipulation of Television Rating Points (TRP) took a new twist on Monday. The Bombay High Court asked the Mumbai police to issue a subpoena to Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami if he proposed to appear as a defendant.
Republic TV is one of three channels accused by Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh of manipulating viewership ratings.
The police have submitted a First Information Report (FIR), but the court said they must first issue a subpoena to Goswami. The case is being heard by a court composed of Judge SS Shinde and MS Karnik.
During the course of the hearing, Goswami’s attorney, Harish Salve, said that his client will appear before the police if he is summoned. Salve also assured the court of full cooperation from Goswami’s side.
The channel moved to the higher court seeking the annulment of the FIR registered in the case and its transfer from the Mumbai police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The channel filed the petition on October 16, a day after the Supreme Court refused to hear a statement from one of its senior officials contesting the subpoena issued by the Mumbai police, and asked him to address the high court. from Bombay.
He has also advocated that no enforcement action (including arrest) be carried out against channel employees.
The superior court agreed to start the final hearing in the case as of November 5. It has ordered the police to present all developments of the investigation in a sealed lid before November 4.
Six people have been arrested by the Mumbai police in the scam, which allegedly involves inducing households that make up the sample set whose television viewing is monitored to ensure that certain channels get higher ratings. Ratings are a key influencing factor in advertisers’ preferences when placing ads. Police say this is a “multi-crore” scam.
.
