The Aryavarth Express
Agency(Maharashtra): In a significant development, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Mumbai has green-lighted the Maharashtra Government’s request to cease all legal proceedings related to the Television Rating Points (TRP) scam, which implicated Arnab Goswami, the Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, among others. This decision follows the Special Public Prosecutor’s (SPP) application under section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), necessitating court consent for the withdrawal of prosecution.
Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray presented the application, citing the comprehensive investigations conducted by three distinct agencies — Maharashtra Police, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and Enforcement Directorate (ED) — which yielded varied outcomes. He highlighted inconsistencies in witness statements recorded during the initial stages of the Mumbai Police investigation, where witnesses claimed under oath that their statements were either inaccurately or falsely documented.
The TRP scam came to light on October 6, 2020, when an FIR was lodged against certain individuals accused of manipulating TRPs through bribery, aiming to inflate the viewership figures of specific channels. The scandal garnered significant attention when then Commissioner of Police Parambir Singh held a press conference declaring it a major scam unearthed by the Mumbai Police.
Despite Arnab Goswami and others from ARG Outlier Media being named in a supplementary chargesheet in June 2021, the subsequent investigations by the ED diverged from the findings of the Mumbai Police, with the ED exonerating Republic TV and R Bharat. The ED’s charges were instead directed towards other channels and associates of Hansa Research Group.
The application for withdrawal argued that continuing the prosecution would be pointless, especially since BARC, the sole authority for viewership data and a central figure in the case, did not lodge any complaints with the investigating authorities. This, combined with the discrepancies and lack of direct complaints from advertisers or BARC, led to the decision to halt the prosecution.
This resolution not only marks the end of legal troubles for Arnab Goswami and Republic TV in connection with the TRP scam but also raises questions about the investigation’s integrity and the implications for press freedom and legal accountability in India.