HC notice to CBI over plea seeking transfer of TRP scam probe
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the CBI on a fresh application filed by ARG Outlier Media Limited, which owns news channel Republic TV and Republic Bharat, in connection with the alleged TRP scam.
The application sought a stay to the probe being conducted by the Mumbai police into alleged rigging of Television Rating Points (TRP).
A bench of Justices S S Shinde and M S Karnik posted the application and the main petition filed earlier by ARG Outlier Media and Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV Arnab Goswami to November 25.
The petition seeks transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The bench also directed the Mumbai Police to submit details of its further probe in a sealed cover on that date.
The police had submitted details of its investigation so far in a sealed cover on Wednesday.
The judges went through the report on Thursday and returned the original papers to the police.
The petition has also sought that theFirst Information Report registered at Kandivali police station for cheating, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy against the company in connection with the TRP scam be set aside.
In the latest application, the petitioners also questioned the Maharashtra government's "hurried" decision on October 21 to withdraw its general consent to the CBI to probe cases in the state.
On Thursday, senior counsel Milind Sathe, who appeared for the petitioners, said the fresh application has been filed by amending the main petition to seek a stay to the ongoing probe and make the CBI a party.
The application alleged that the police were investigating several people, including the company's chartered accountants and auditors, who had nothing to do with the case.
The Mumbai police have claimed to have unearthed a TRP rigging racket following the Broadcast Audience Research Council's complaint that certain television channels were manipulating TRP numbers by bribing viewers.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
