New Delhi
Prominent Indian lawyer, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, has shared screenshots of purportedly leaked WhatsApp conversations between Republic TV executive editor Arnab Goswami and Partho Dasgupta, former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) who is an accused in the Television Rating Point (TRP) scam case.
Prashant Bhushan in a tweet with the screenshots of the purported conversation, “These are a few snapshots of the damning leaked WhatsApp chats between BARC CEO & Arnab Goswami. They show many conspiracies & unprecedented access to power in this govt; gross abuse of his media & his position as power broker. In any Rule of law country, he would be in jail for long.”
The TRP scam came to light in October last year when BARC filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain television channels, including Republic TV, were rigging their TRP numbers.
According to Mumbai Police, Partho Dasgupta misused his official position and connived with accused, including Arnab Goswami, to manipulate TRP ratings and bring Republic TV to the number 1 position. The police have also said that Goswami had paid huge sums to Dasgupta to rig the Republic TV TRP since its launch in 2017.
The former BARC CEO has been named in the supplementary charge-sheet submitted by the Mumbai police in the TRP scam case.
The Mumbai Police crime branch is probing the role of Republic TV, Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema, News Nation, Mahamovies and Wow music channel for inflating viewership figures.
The channels are accused of paying money to households (where barometers were installed) for keeping the channels on.—KMS
