TRP scam: Court rejects bail plea of BARC's ex-CEO

A sessions court in Mumbai onWednesday rejected the bail application of former CEO ofratings agency BARC, Partho Dasgupta, an accused in thealleged fake Television Ratings Point (TRP) case.

Dasgupta was arrested by the Mumbai crime branchfrom Pune district last month.

A magistrate court had earlier rejected his bail plea,observing that he played a vital role in the scam.

Opposing Dasgupta's bail application in the sessionscourt, special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray submitted thatalthough the charge-sheet in the case has been filed, therestill are multiple things which need to be investigated.

He argued that Dasgupta is a key person and holdssizeable control over the entire system, hence his releasewill amount to tampering with the prosecution witnesses, whowork under him.

The special public prosecutor also drew the court'sattention towards the purported WhatsApp chat between Dasguptaand Republic TV's Arnab Goswami.

''We have shown to the court the WhatsApp chatregarding the TRPs in which Dasgupta promised to take downsome other channels and put Arnab's channel on the higherposition,'' he said.

Dasgupta's lawyer, on the other hand, told the courtthat allegations made against him were without any evidence.

However, finding merit in the prosecution'ssubmissions, sessions court judge M A Bhosale rejectedDasgupta's bail plea.

Police have alleged that Dasgupta, in connivancewith another senior official from the Broadcast AudienceResearch Council (BARC) and ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd's ownerArnab Goswami, manipulated the TRPs of Republic TV andRepublic Bharat (Hindi).

The police have further claimed that Goswami paid inlakhs to Dasgupta in return of the manipulation.

Republic TV and other accused have denied anywrongdoing and manipulation of the TRP system.

The alleged scam came to light last year when the BARCfiled a complaint through Hansa Research Group, saying certaintelevision channels were rigging the TRP numbers.