Court allows withdrawal of FIR in ‘fake’ TRP case against Arnab Goswami, 21 others
The state government through Mumbai Police had filed an application seeking withdrawal of the case in November, last year.
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The lawyer argued that the prosecution applied its mind and concluded that the case would not lead to conviction and instead of wasting judicial time and government's efforts, the case be withdrawn. (File)A metropolitan magistrate court at Esplanade Wednesday allowed the plea by Mumbai Police crime branch to withdraw the FIR filed against 22 accused, including Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, in the alleged fake Television Rating Points (TRP) case.
The state government through Mumbai Police had filed an application seeking withdrawal of the case in November, last year.
Metropolitan Magistrate L S Padhen permitted withdrawal of the FIR concerned after the special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray representing Police submitted that continuation of criminal proceedings may not lead to conviction in the case and therefore application filed under section 321 (withdrawal of prosecution) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Detailed order will be made available in due course.
Hiray claimed that none including Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, or any advertisers till date came forward to claim the offence had taken place or they had been cheated.
The lawyer argued that the prosecution applied its mind and concluded that the case would not lead to conviction and instead of wasting judicial time and government’s efforts, the case be withdrawn.
Hiray referred to the contradicting reports submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its case, where the witnesses did not support the allegations in the Mumbai police FIR.
As reported by The Indian Express in November, last year, the government officials had said that the decision was taken by the state Home department on grounds including contradictions in the probe by the Mumbai police which conducted the initial investigation.
The Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) headed by then assistant inspector Sachin Waze when Maha Vikas Aghadi was in power had begun a probe in the case in 2020.
The allegation was that the ratings of the TV channels were manipulated through illegal payments made to household panels where TRP was measured.
The permission granted by the magistrate to withdraw the FIR will also have an impact on separate offences filed by the ED, in which the central agency had relied on the scheduled offence registered by the Mumbai Police.
In September 2022, the ED had filed a chargesheet in the case against 16, all linked to three movie channels and former relationship managers of Hansa Research Group Private Ltd, which measured TRP on behalf of BARC.
The ED had then claimed that no evidence was found against Republic TV.
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