Court allows Mumbai police to withdraw 'fake TRP' case

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A court here Wednesday allowed Mumbai police's plea seeking to withdraw the 'fake TRP' case where some TV channels were accused of inflating their viewership numbers by fraudulent means. No 'victims' came forward to buttress the case and police felt it would not lead to convictions, the prosecution stated in its application before the Metropolitan Magistrate at Esplanade Court, reported news wire PTI.

Journalist Arnab Goswami was among those named as accused in the case, which was registered after Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) lodged a complaint in October 2020, through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain television channels were rigging TRP numbers.

As per PTI report, Special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray argued that the investigators hoped that victims of the alleged rigging of Television Rating Points (TRP) would come forward (to record statements), but no one who felt cheated turned up. Witnesses gave contradictory statements, he said.

A supplementary charge sheet filed by police alleged that Arnab Goswami, in connivance with former CEO of BARC Partho Dasgupta, a co-accused, tampered with TRP. It cited Goswami's alleged acceptance of WhatsApp chats with Dasgupta as crucial evidence. But in November 2023, Mumbai police moved the court under section 321 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which enables a public prosecutor to 'withdraw from the prosecution of any person.'

The crime branch of Mumbai police had also arrested more than 12 persons, including Republic TV's distribution head and owners of two other channels, in the case. All of them were granted bail later.

Meanwhile, a special court on Wednesday allowed actor Rhea Chakraborty, an accused in the drugs case related to her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput's death, to travel abroad with her family for a short holiday in Thailand, reported PTI.

Rhea was arrested in the case in September 2020, and was granted bail by the Bombay High Court almost a month after her arrest. Besides Rhea, her brother Showik and several others are accused in the case. Most of them are currently out on bail.

(With PTI inputs)