TRP rigging case: ED chargesheet says no proof against Republic TV
No evidence was forthcoming either by the statement or by digital data evidence, the ED said, underlining that the investigation done by Mumbai Police was at variance with the investigation done by the central agency.
FollowIn a sensational twist to the Television Rating Points scam, the Enforcement Directorate has told a special court in Mumbai that it had not found any evidence linking Republic TV to the TRP rigging scam.
In its affidavit, the Enforcement Directorate said the agency's thorough probe into the alleged role of Republic TV (ArG Outliers) in bribing/influencing panel households to watch republic TV, or Republic Bharat channels revealed that there was no evidence of the two channels indulging in these practises. The charge sheet said that the panel households denied having taken money for watching Republic TV or Republic Bharat.
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No evidence was forthcoming either by the statement or by digital data evidence, the ED said, underlining that the investigation done by Mumbai Police was at variance with the investigation done by the central agency.
At the same time, the ED charge sheet states that there was evidence found about some regional and entertainment channels being involved in manipulating TRP by paying sample or 'panel' households.
Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court Judge Justice M G Deshpande took cognizance of the charge sheet on Wednesday.Â
To recall, the ED had, in November 2020, filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), which is equivalent to a police First Information Report. The ECIR came after the Mumbai Police FIR against Republic TV, two Marathi channels and a few individuals for alleged TRP manipulation. Â
The scam came to light when rating agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group.
The ED charge sheet said there was a wider conspiracy between channel viewers, agents, and regional managers to influence/induce panel households to watch certain channels for monetary gains. TRP depends upon a small statistical data of nearly 1800 households in Mumbai and 45000 households all over India.
The ED said even though various channel owners manipulated the system for a considerable period of time, but it was very difficult to pinpoint when the manipulation started.
The charge sheet names channels like Box Cinema, Fakt Marathi, Maha Movies and others and accused them of entering into a criminal conspiracy with former Hansa group top executive Bompalli Mistry under the garb of a cable reach survey, it said.
Regional managers who confessed to paying household panels to watch select television channels denied doing the same for Republic TV, the charge sheet said, adding that the forensic audit report relied upon by Mumbai police was superficial and based on the analysis of limited aspects.
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