Ex-BARC CEO directly involved, rigged entire system: Police to Bombay HC

Former Broadcast Audience Research Council BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta rigged the entire TRP system for news channels and also discussed issues of national security with a certain owner cum news anchor on Whatsapp the Mumbai Police told the Bombay High Court on MondaySpecial public prosecutor Shishir Hiray told a singlejudge bench presided over by Justice PD Naik that Dasgupta was directly involved in manipulating Television Rating Points TRPs with the help of other accused personsHiray who was opposing Dasguptas bail plea in the HC said the crime branch of the Mumbai police had accessed among other things Dasguptas WhatsApp chats with a certain owner and anchor of a TV channel where in he discussed manipulating the TRPsHiray said the two also discussed issues concerning national security They tried to manipulate the entire system of TRPs There are chats regarding the security of the nation Hiray saidThe purported chats between Dasgupta and Republic TV editorinchief Arnab Goswami who is also an accused in the TRP scam case on the 2019 Pulwama attack are a part of the chargesheet filed by the police in the caseJustice Naik asked if any offence had been registered with regard to the Wahtsapp chat regarding the Pulwama attack to which Hiray replied in negative Dasguptas counsel senior lawyer Abad Ponda told the HC that the WhatsApp chats were merely loose talksRegarding Whatsapp chats I will only say it is loose talks Those are not admissible and need corroborative evidence Ponda said He said Dasguptas coaccused in the case were out on bail and that the Maharashtra government had made a statement before the HC earlier this month saying it will not take any coercive action against Arnab Goswami or any other employees of ARG Outlier media which runs Republic TV channelsI am not saying to arrest them But then the whole group under Republic TV is protected and I am behind bars Ponda told the HC on behalf of Dasgupta He also said that the chargesheet had already been filed in the case and Dasguptas custodial interrogation was not required any more and therefore he be granted bailObjecting to the bail plea Hiray said the statement made by Maharashtra government counsel Kapil Sibal protecting the ARG employees had been made with reluctance Hiray said the TRP scam happened at three levelsThe barometers for measurement were installed by BARC and Hansa The viewers were paid monthly for watching their channels The inevitable conclusion is that the information was leaked from BARC he said Justice Naik then asked if Dasgupta was the one who had leaked the information to which Hiray said that seemed to be the inevitable conclusionThere is a full involvement of Dasgupta For a few crores he Dasgupta allowed the TRPs to be manipulated he said Hiray further said the other accused who were granted bail in the case were not as powerful as Dasgupta isThe HC will continue hearing the arguments on TuesdayThis 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