Ex-Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh withdraws defamation suit against Arnab Goswami

Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh on Wednesday withdrew a defamation suit filed against TV journalist Arnab Goswami and ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd which owns Republic TVWhile allowing the withdrawal request additional sessions judge V D Kedar imposed a nominal cost of Rs 1500 on Singh who has now retired to be paid to GoswamiIt is not in dispute that due to the filing of the suit the defendant has to engage an advocate I feel cost needs to be imposed for withdrawal of the suit unconditionally the judge saidSingh filed a defamation suit in 2021 against Goswami and the owners of the Republic TV newschannel seeking damages of Rs 9000000In October 2020 Goswami made several false and defamatorystatements on his news show on Republic TV in relation to the alleged TRP Television Rating Points rigging scam which Mumbai Police were probing Singh claimed in his suitAlso Read Three Thane cops save man who jumped in creek to kill himselfThe tone and tenor of the show implied that Singh was driven by malice and vendetta and it falsely claimed that Singh was abusing his official position by harassing intimidating and victimizing Goswami the plea addedIn his reply to the suit Goswami and ARG Outlier said the suit was not maintainable as Singh was no longer the Mumbai police commissionerSingh was also facing grave allegations and the entire investigation of the alleged TRP scam conducted at the behest of Singh and political dispensation of that time was tainted and harbored malice Goswamis reply claimedAn eightpage letter written by Singh to then Chief Minister of Maharashtra on March 20 2021 admitted that investigations were being guided in political directions the reply saidWhen the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday Singhs lawyer moved an application seeking to withdraw the suitAdvocate Pradeep Gandhy appearing for Goswami said they had no objection but it should not be misconstrued that we have settled the matter out of court he saidI have been put to immense torture therefore I am praying for costs Gandhy saidMumbai Police in 2020 probed an alleged racket where some TV channels were accused of manipulating and inflating their TRPSingh was shunted out from the post of Mumbai top cop in March 2021 when police officer Sachin Waze was arrested in connection with the recovery of an SUV with explosives near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis house Subsequently Singh in a letter to then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray alleged then home ministerAnil Deshmukh had asked police in Mumbai to collect Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants Deshmukh denied the allegations but soon stepped down from his postThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever