Mumbai: Despite the summons, Republic TV’s chief financial officer (CFO) did not appear before Mumbai police on Saturday to record his statement regarding the TRP manipulation fraud, saying the channel has addressed the Supreme Court. in the case, said a senior official.
Shiva Subramaniyam Sundaram, the channel’s chief financial officer, against whom a subpoena was issued on Friday, also asked the police not to record his statement saying that the high court hearing is scheduled within a week, the official said.
However, Sam Balsara, president and managing director of Madison World and Madison Communications appeared before the criminal branch on Saturday to record his statement, he added.
The Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai criminal branch had issued a subpoena against Sundaram and had been asked to join the investigation at 11 a.m. Saturday.
However, he did not appear before the investigation team. He informed police that the channel has approached the Supreme Court and that there will be a hearing on the matter in a week. Citing this, he asked the police not to record his statement. “said the official.
Sundaram’s subpoena said there are reasonable grounds to believe that he is “familiar with certain facts and circumstances of the matter and they are required to be determined.”
The CIU of the criminal branch is investigating the false television Rating Points (TRP) fraud case.
In addition to him, the police had also summoned accountants from Marathi channels ‘Fakt Marathi’ and ‘Box Cinema’ and those from a couple of advertising agencies, he said.
On Thursday, police arrested four people, including the owners of Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema in the case.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had claimed that three channels, including Republic TV, manipulated the PRT.
The scandal came to light when the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), an organization that measures TRP, filed a complaint about it through Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd, police said.
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