No coercive motion towards Arnab Goswami until January 29 in TRP case: Mumbai Police

By PTI

Mumbai, Jan 15 (PTI) The Mumbai police advised the Bombay High Court on Friday that it’s going to not take any coercive motion until January 29 towards Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and different staff of ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd within the alleged pretend TRP rip-off case.

ARG is the mum or dad firm that runs all Republic TV channels.

A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale additionally prolonged until January 29, the interim aid for workers of the complainant firm within the case, Hansa Research Group, by directing the police to make sure they’re referred to as for inquiry for no more than two days every week.

The bench additionally took on report the standing report filed by the Mumbai police in its investigation within the alleged rip-off which got here to gentle late final yr.

ARG media had approached the HC final yr in search of, amongst different issues, that the police be restrained from taking coercive motion towards its staff.

On Friday, ARG’s counsel senior advocate Harish Salve advised the court docket that the allegations of the Mumbai police that Goswami paid bribes to rig TRP numbers was “nonsensical.”

Salve mentioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a cash laundering case associated to the alleged TRP rip-off and was probing the identical.

He mentioned the HC should name for a standing report from the ED, too, and if the contents of the standing stories filed by the Mumbai police and the central company differed a lot, the court docket would realise the case towards ARG was malafide.

The ED’s counsel, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, advised the bench that the central company had readied its standing report and the court docket should settle for it in a sealed cowl.

The Mumbai police’s counsel, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, nonetheless, opposed the ED’s submissions.

Sibal raised questions on the ED’s locus standi within the matter.

He additionally reminded the court docket that the monetary probe company was not a celebration within the case earlier than the HC.

Salve, nonetheless, advised the HC that ARG had amended its plea and sought that the ED be impleaded as a celebration.

The court docket then directed Sibal to file his reply to the amended plea and the ED being impleaded, by the subsequent date of listening to.

While opposing the ED being joined as a celebration, Sibal went on to query the central company’s “enthusiasm” to file its standing report even earlier than it was impleaded as a celebration.

“I have strong objections to the ED appearing in this matter. Why is this enthusiasm….,” Sibal mentioned.

Salve, nonetheless, argued that the police should not have any opposition to the court docket going via the ED’s report.

“I dont understand how the State agency is trying to stop a Union agency from filing a report,” Salve mentioned.

The court docket, although, refused to take the ED’s standing report on report on Friday and mentioned it’ll take into account the identical on the subsequent date of listening to.

On January 6, Sibal had advised HC that the Mumbai police is not going to take any coercive motion towards Goswami and staff of ARG until January 15.

On Friday, because the HC granted the police time to file its reply to the amended petition and adjourned the listening to to January 29, Sibal submitted that he had no objection to such safety being prolonged until then.

The HC accepted Sibal’s submission.

ARG Media has filed a number of pleas and interim functions within the HC urging the court docket to switch the probe within the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or some other unbiased company.

The pleas additionally urge the court docket to remain in the intervening time, any additional investigation within the case, and to restrain the police from taking any coercive motion towards the petitioners, their staff, or traders.

The alleged racket was uncovered in October final yr when the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a criticism claiming sure tv channels had been rigging TRP numbers.