TRP case: No interim bail for former BARC CEO Dasgupta

A sessions court in Mumbai onMonday refused to grant interim bail to Partho Dasgupta,former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) andan accused in the TRP manipulation case.

The court will hear arguments in the case to decide onDasgupta's bail plea on January 15.

In his plea seeking bail, Dasgupta told the courthe was 55 years of age, and a diabetic, and that he sufferedfrom other medical ailments.

He also said the allegations against him were basedon ''conjecture''.

His counsel Shardul Singh told sessions courtJudge MA Bhosale that no offence of cheating, as alleged bythe prosecution, was made out against Dasgupta.

He also said since a charge sheet and a supplementarycharge sheet had already been filed in the case, Dasguptadeserved to be let out on bail, adding that several of theco-accused in the case had already been granted bail.

Special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray, however,told court the police had filed a voluminous supplementarycharge sheet on Monday of over 5,000 pages, and that he wouldneed time to go through it.

Singh then said Dasgupta must be granted interim bailsince the supplementary charge sheet too had been filed, butHIray opposed the argument and said the court must not grantinterim bail to Dasgupta without hearing the prosecution'sarguments.

Judge Bhosale said he was not inclined to grant bailwithout hearing all parties.

The TRP scam came to light in October last year whenBARC filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, one ofBARC's vendors on engagement with panel homes, alleging thatsome channels were rigging television rating points.