Found proof against Republic TV, Arnab in TRP case: Mumbai Police tells HC
Mumbai: The Mumbai Police on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that "some evidence" was found against Republic TV and its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami in the Television Rating Points (TRP) scam case, and therefore, it did not want to continue granting them any protection from any coercive action.
However, as the high court adjourned the matter without hearing any arguments during the day, the police agreed to continue its previous assurance of not taking any coercive action till January 15, the next date of hearing in the case.
The alleged fake TRP scam was unearthed last year after the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint alleging that certain television channels were rigging their TRP numbers, apparently to generate more revenue from advertisements.
On Wednesday, the HC adjourned the matter without hearing any arguments after a Republic TV counsel told the court that senior advocate Harish Salve was unable to appear while the second senior lawyer was stuck due to some medical emergency in the family.
At this point, Mumbai Police's lawyer Kapil Sibal agreed to refrain from taking any coercive action against the accused till the next date of hearing.
"We (Mumbai Police) have found evidence on record through the investigation with BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami. Milords may record my statement that I (police) do not wish to continue my statement. I (Police) have agreed (not to take any coercive action against the accused) because of this extreme emergency," Sibal said referring to the adjournment.
He also told the HC that the police will submit a status report of its probe in the case on the next date of hearing.
On December 16 last year, Sibal had submitted in the HC that no coercive action would be taken against Goswami or any other employees of ARG Outlier Media (AOM), which runs Republic TV, till January 6.
The AOM had approached the high court last year, seeking, among other things, that the police be restrained from taking coercive action against its employees.
During the hearing in December last year, advocate Abad Ponda, who appeared for AOM, had read out from the charge sheet to point out that the police had mentioned in the charge sheet, the owners, managers, and related persons of Republic TV, as suspects in the case.
Ponda had said that this could mean that the police could arrest anyone related to the channel and that the same constituted "gross illegality".
The HC bench had then asked the state's counsel to take instructions from the police on no coercive action against the employees till further hearing.
AOM had filed several pleas and interim applications in the HC urging it to transfer the probe in the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation or any other independent agency.
It had also requested the HC to stay the ongoing investigation and restrain the police from taking any coercive action against the petitioners, their employees, or investors.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
