No coercive action against Arnab Goswami till Jan 29 in TRP case: Mumbai Police

The Mumbai police told the Bombay High Court on Friday that it will not take any coercive action till January 29 against Republic TV editorinchief Arnab Goswami and other employees of ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd in the alleged fake TRP scam caseARG is the parent company that runs all Republic TV channelsA division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale also extended till January 29 the interim relief for employees of the complainant company in the case Hansa Research Group by directing the police to ensure they are called for inquiry for not more than two days a weekThe bench also took on record the status report filed by the Mumbai police in its investigation in the alleged scam which came to light late last yearARG media had approached the HC last year seeking among other things that the police be restrained from taking coercive action against its employeesOn Friday ARGs counsel senior advocate Harish Salve told the court that the allegations of the Mumbai police that Goswami paid bribes to rig TRP numbers was nonsensicalSalve said the Enforcement Directorate ED had registered a money laundering case related to the alleged TRP scam and was probing the sameHe said the HC must call for a status report from the ED too and if the contents of the status reports filed by the Mumbai police and the central agency differed much the court would realise the case against ARG was malafideThe EDs counsel Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told the bench that the central agency had readied its status report and the court must accept it in a sealed coverThe Mumbai polices counsel senior advocate Kapil Sibal however opposed the EDs submissionsSibal raised questions on the EDs locus standi in the matter He also reminded the court that the financial probe agency was not a party in the case before the HCSalve however told the HC that ARG had amended its plea and sought that the ED be impleaded as a partyThe court then directed Sibal to file his reply to the amended plea and the ED being impleaded by the next date of hearingWhile opposing the ED being joined as a party Sibal went on to question the central agencys enthusiasm to file its status report even before it was impleaded as a partyI have strong objections to the ED appearing in this matter Why is this enthusiasm Sibal saidSalve however argued that the police must not have any opposition to the court going through the EDs reportI dont understand how the State agency is trying to stop a Union agency from filing a report Salve saidThe court though refused to take the EDs status report on record on Friday and said it will consider the same on the next date of hearingOn January 6 Sibal had told HC that the Mumbai police will not take any coercive action against Goswami and employees of ARG till January 15 On Friday as the HC granted the police time to file its reply to the amended petition and adjourned the hearing to January 29 Sibal submitted that he had no objection to such protection being extended till thenThe HC accepted Sibals submissionARG Media has filed several pleas and interim applications in the HC urging the court to transfer the probe in the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI or any other independent agencyThe pleas also urge the court to stay in the meanwhile any further investigation in the case and to restrain the police from taking any coercive action against the petitioners their employees or investorsThe alleged racket was uncovered in October last year when the Broadcast Audience Research Council BARC filed a complaint claiming certain television channels were rigging TRP numbersThis 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