Mumbai police arrested Republic TV chief executive Vikas Khanchandani on Sunday in connection with the alleged case of manipulation of television ratings, NDTV reported. He is the thirteenth person arrested for scam.
Republic TV said it will move Holiday’s court against the arrest. The main lawyer KK Manan demanded the intervention of the courts to learn suo moto of the arrest of the general director of Republic TV.
Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of the news channel, condemned the arrest and asked if it was constitutional. “If the matter falls within TRAI [Telecom Regulatory Authority of India]Why are the Mumbai police arresting our CEO Vikas Khanchandani? “he asked. The lawyer for the news channel MR Venkatesh has also requested the immediate intervention of the Supreme Court.
ANI editor Smita Prakash urged the executive, legislative and judicial branches to unite in support of the Indian media.
On Tuesday, Republic TV editor-in-chief Goswami had moved to Bombay High Court to request a stay of Mumbai police investigations into the scam. The petition, filed by Goswami and ARG Outlier Media, which owns Republic TV, alleged that its Deputy Vice President Ghanshyam Singh was subjected to torture in custody following his arrest on November 10. The channel also sought protection for all of its employees from the “malicious witch.” hunting ”allegedly carried out by the government of Maharashtra. The National Human Rights Commission had also moved on Wednesday against Singh’s alleged torture.
A bogus TRP scam was discovered in October when the Broadcast Audience Research Council filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, one of BARC’s providers, about compromise with panel houses, or “people meters.” Some of the channels were accused of tampering with their TRPs by bribing some households to watch it.
Mumbai Police submitted a first information report on October 6.
In addition to Republic TV, Box Cinema and the Marathi channel Fakt Marathi were the others named during the preliminary investigation. Several Republic TV officials have been questioned about the matter.
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