TRP manipulation case: Maha govt seeks details of FIR against Arnab Goswami

The state home department in Mumbai has requested more details from the Mumbai police regarding the alleged manipulation of Television Ratings Points (TRP) after Arnab Goswami, the managing director and editor-in-chief of Republic Media Network, sought closure of the case. The department is seeking information on the chargesheet, a questionnaire on why the cases should be closed, and any potential impact. The state home department had referred the matter to the law and judiciary department, which deemed the details provided by the police insufficient.

Mumbai: The state home department on Thursday sought more details from the Mumbai police in an alleged scam of manipulation of Television Ratings Points (TRP) after managing director and editor-in-chief of Republic Media Network Arnab Goswami sought closure of the case.

Arnab Goswami Editor in Cheif Times Now 01pubmar2006 hhnews 01March2006

The police officials wrote a letter to the home department after receiving an application from Goswami seeking permission for case closure. A top officer from the Maharashtra government said the state asked for details in all four FIRs filed against Goswami.

They have asked about the chargesheet, a 32-point questionnaire on why cases need to be closed, and its impact if any. The state home department had referred the matter to the law and judiciary department which was of the view that the details provided by Mumbai police were not enough. “We have to play safe if the matter goes to court at a later stage,” said the government officer.

Goswami had made a plea before Mumbai police to drop his name in the case for alleged manipulation of Television Ratings Points (TRP), in October 2020, Goswami approached the Mumbai police a few months ago citing flaws in the probe. A chargesheet in the case was filed in June 2021.

Recently, senior officials in the state home department obtained the documents from Mumbai police about the case, and on re-examination found several flaws and apparent malice in the earlier investigation carried out by dismissed police officer, Sachin Waze and his team. Waze was the head of the crime intelligence unit (CIU) that investigated the case. The crime branch said the probe was also mired by allegations of bribery demands.

It has come to light that the earlier authorities had insisted on registering an offence when there were specific provisions under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (TRAI) to deal with the allegations. Sources said, in such a case the state government can exercise powers under section 321 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to withdraw criminal prosecutions. Just as it had exercised its powers in July 2021, by issuing orders to withdraw political and social offences against certain activists. Similarly, it also directed withdrawals of several prosecutions pertaining to petty offences during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the police, when the FIR in the case was filed, Mumbai police had said in a press conference that a TRP racket had been busted which involved Republic TV, Box Cinema and Fakt Marathi. It was alleged that the channels were involved in distorting the system used by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to rate television channels based on the viewership.

While Goswami was not named in the FIR, in the second charge sheet he was named an accused.

Meanwhile, the ED which had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in the case had filed a charge sheet in September 2022. It had cleared the names of Republic TV and R Bharat channels belonging to Goswami from the charge of manipulating the TRPs. The investigating agency had claimed that it had examined the role of Republic channels and found Mumbai police’s probe “at variance with the probe done by the ED”.

It claimed raw data for the panel households which were allegedly watching Republic channels (according to the police charge sheet) was sought from BARC. “An analysis of viewership pattern showed that these households were watching channels other than Republic TV and R Bharat.” The panel households denied being bribed to watch Republic channels, it said. “Their statements corroborate the raw data kept independently by BARC.”

Though the relationship managers said in their statements that they had paid the panel households to watch the channels, it had not found any money trail so far, the ED said.

The agency further said that the police had relied on a forensic audit which concluded that “the TRP calculation methodology was tinkered with and controls were used to favour specific channels.” However, the auditor appointed by the ED said that the allegations made in the police audit report were “superficial and based on an analysis of limited aspects.”