No coercive action against Arnab till Jan 29 in TRP case: Cops

The Mumbai police told the BombayHigh Court on Friday that it will not take any coercive actiontill January 29 against Republic TV editor-in-chief ArnabGoswami and other employees of ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd inthe alleged fake TRP scam case.

ARG is the parent company that runs all Republic TVchannels.

A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and ManishPitale also extended till January 29, the interim relief foremployees of the complainant company in the case, HansaResearch Group, by directing the police to ensure they arecalled for inquiry for not more than two days a week.

The bench also took on record the status report filedby the Mumbai police in its investigation in the alleged scamwhich came to light late last year.

ARG media had approached the HC last year seeking,among other things, that the police be restrained from takingcoercive action against its employees.

On Friday, ARG's counsel senior advocate Harish Salvetold the court that the allegations of the Mumbai police thatGoswami paid bribes to rig TRP numbers was ''nonsensical.'' Salve said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) hadregistered a money laundering case related to the alleged TRPscam and was probing the same.

He said the HC must call for a status report from theED, too, and if the contents of the status reports filed bythe Mumbai police and the central agency differed much, thecourt would realise the case against ARG was malafide.

The ED's counsel, Additional Solicitor General AnilSingh, told the bench that the central agency had readied itsstatus report and the court must accept it in a sealed cover.

The Mumbai police's counsel, senior advocate KapilSibal, however, opposed the ED's submissions.

Sibal raised questions on the ED's locus standi in thematter. He also reminded the court that the financial probeagency was not a party in the case before the HC.

Salve, however, told the HC that ARG had amended itsplea and sought that the ED be impleaded as a party.

The court then directed Sibal to file his reply to theamended plea and the ED being impleaded, by the next date ofhearing.

While opposing the ED being joined as a party, Sibalwent on to question the central agency's ''enthusiasm'' to fileits status report even before it was impleaded as a party.

''I have strong objections to the ED appearing in thismatter. Why is this enthusiasm..,'' Sibal said.

Salve, however, argued that the police must not haveany opposition to the court going through the ED's report.

''I dont understand how the State agency is trying tostop a Union agency from filing a report,'' Salve said.

The court, though, refused to take the ED's statusreport on record on Friday and said it will consider the sameon the next date of hearing.

On January 6, Sibal had told HC that the Mumbai policewill not take any coercive action against Goswami andemployees of ARG till January 15.

On Friday, as the HC granted the police time to file its replyto the amended petition and adjourned the hearing to January29, Sibal submitted that he had no objection to suchprotection being extended till then.

The HC accepted Sibal's submission.

ARG Media has filed several pleas and interimapplications in the HC urging the court to transfer the probein the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) orany other independent agency.

The pleas also urge the court to stay in themeanwhile, any further investigation in the case, and torestrain the police from taking any coercive action againstthe petitioners, their employees, or investors.

The alleged racket was uncovered in October last yearwhen the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed acomplaint claiming certain television channels were riggingTRP numbers.