Republic TV distribution head held; SC to hear anchor's plea today

An accused being produced at Esplanade court. Pic/ Suresh Karkera

Assistant Vice President and distribution head of Republic TV Ghanshyam Singh was arrested by the Special Investigation Team of the Crime Branch on Tuesday in connection with the alleged TRP scam. This is the first arrest of a Republic TV staffer since police chief Param Bir Singh took a press conference on October 8 alleging that the channel was involved in TRP manipulation. In another development, the SC will hear today the interim bail plea of TV anchor Arnab Goswami.

The CB has so far arrested 12 accused in the TRP case including Singh. The SIT arrested Singh from his residence after evidence surfaced that he was directly in touch with the accused who have been involved in TRP manipulation, and some of them have been arrested by the CB. He was produced before a court and has been sent to police custody till November 23. The Crime Branch in its remand application said, "We have found that Ghanshyam gave R2 lakh to another accused, Abhishek Kolawade, to increase the TRP ratings of his news channels, Republic Bharat and Republic TV."

The remand application also states, "Ghanshyam has given R15 lakh to accused Kolawade from January 2020 to July 2020 for the manipulation of TRP."

Also Read: SC to hear Arnab Goswami's plea against Bombay HC order denying him bail on Wednesday

Arnab Goswami

The Crime Branch officials claimed that the amount paid by Singh to Kolawade was later given to the other accused who have been working on the ground, and contacting households and paying them to watch specific news channels. The officials have also found the contact numbers of the arrested accused in Singh's cellphone.

Republic Network statement

The Republic Network issued a statement regarding Singh's arrest. It said, "In a brazen misuse of power, Republic Media Network's Network's Assistant Vice President Mr Ghanshyam Singh was arrested this morning at 7.40 am by the Mumbal Police. Republic Media Network is shocked at the unchecked malicious campaign of the Mumbal Police that is determined to falsely target and desperately implicate Republic and its members. It is clear this is part of the same vendetta-driven, vengeful and motivated campaign of the Maharashtra state machinery that assaulted and arrested Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami."

SC to hear Arnab Goswami's plea today

Also Read: Arnab's Arrest: 'Victim's rights as important as accused's rights' says Bombay High Court

The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday an interim bail plea of Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami in a 2018 case of alleged abetment to suicide of an interior designer. It has been listed for hearing by a vacation bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee at 10.30 am.

Television news anchor Arnab Goswami near a police vehicle after he was produced in a court following his arrest. PIC/Atul Kamble

The sessions court at Alibaug in Raigad district, where the criminal case has been registered, on Tuesday reserved its decision on the police's plea challenging a magistrate's order denying them custody of Goswami and other two accused. Additional Sessions Judge at Alibaug, R G Malashetti said the court would pass the order on the revision application filed by local police on November 12. It would also hear bail applications of Goswami and co-accused Feroze Shaikh and Nitish Sarda the same day, the court said.

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