Loss of Rs 431 cr to Times Now in TRP Scam, mentioned in chargesheet against Arnab Goswami
In February, Times Network had issued a legal notice to BARC for fraudulent viewership manipulation and tampering of Television Audience Measurement & Television Rating Points
The Mumbai police have said in its supplementary chargesheet that Arnab Goswami conspired with BARC's ex-CEO Partho Dasgupta, who was arrested & charge-sheeted in the scam earlier, to illegally tamper with TRPs and make Republic TV number 1 news channel.
The police have mentioned Goswami’s WhatsApp chats with Dasgupta a crucial evidence in the case.
"We have found evidence to show they exchanged confidential information about BARC, repeatedly to benefit Goswami's channels (Republic TV and Republic Bharat)," claimed the chargesheet filed by Mumbai police.
The Mumbai Police, on Tuesday, submitted the 1,934 page supplementary chargesheet in TRP scam case naming Goswami as an accused. Along with Republic TV’s Editor-in-Chief, six others were named accused in the same case.
As per the media reports, they have all been charged under sections 406 and 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 465 and 468 (forgery), 120B (conspiracy), 174 and 179 (non-cooperation during the investigation), 201 and 204 (destruction of evidence), 212 (harbouring offenders). Earlier, 15 people were charge-sheeted.
In February, Times Network had issued a legal notice to BARC for fraudulent viewership manipulation and tampering of Television Audience Measurement and Television Rating Points (TRP). The notice said BARC should compensate Times Group with Rs 431 crore in damages.
BARC measures the TRPs, which is responsible for a channel's advertising revenue.
