TRP: Republic TV's CFO Doesn't Appear Before Cops, Cites SC Hearing

Despite summons, Republic TV's

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) did not appear before the Mumbai police on Saturday to record his statement in connection with the TRP manipulation racket, saying the channel has approached the Supreme Court in the case, a senior official said.

Shiva Subramaniyam Sundaram, the channel's CFO, against whom summons had been issued on Friday, also requested the police not to record his stamement saying the top court's hearing is scheduled within a week, the official said.

However, Sam Balsara, chairman and managing director of Madison World and Madison Communications appeared before the crime branch on Saturday to record his statement, he added.

The Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai crime branch had issued summons against Sundaram and he had been asked to join the investigation at 11 am on Saturday.

"However, he did not appear before the probe team. He informed the police that the channel has approached the Supreme Court and that there will be a hearing on the matter within a week. Citing this, he requested the police not to record his statement," the official said.

The summons to Sundaram said there are reasonable grounds to believe that he is "acquainted with certain facts and circumstances of the matter and the same are required to be ascertained".

The CIU of the crime branch is investigating the fake Television Rating Points (TRP) racket case.

Besides him, the police had also summoned accountants of Marathi channels 'Fakt Marathi' and 'Box Cinema' and those of a couple of advertising agencies, he said.

On Thursday, the police had arrested four persons including owners of Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema in the case.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had claimed that three channels including Republic TV manipulated the TRP.

The racket came to light when the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) an organization which measures TRP, filed a complaint in this regard through Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd, the police said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor