Ishkaran demands CBI probe TRP case as BARC shreds Param Bir Singh's lies against Republic

As Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and team on Sunday exposed the lies of Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh against the network, advocate Ishkaran Bhandari called for a CBI probe into the alleged TRP scam for a just and fair investigation of the case.  

In the biggest revelation that shreds the lies of the Mumbai Police Commissioner in the TRP case, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) confirmed in an email to Republic that there was never a case against Republic Media Network and there was no malpractice or illegality found against it. Lauding Arnab Goswami for the massive expose, Ishkaran said, "the way Arnab has exposed facts in TRP scam, will go down in history".

READ | BARC Email Shreds Param Bir Singh's TRP Case Lies Against Republic; False Campaign Exposed

What is the BARC's email to Republic?

Republic Media Network’s CEO Vikas Khanchandani wrote an email to BARC on October 16, 2020, requesting it to "confirm in the public domain" that the "BARC and its vigilance team has found no infringement by Republic TV (ARG Outliers Media Pvt. Ltd)". In response to Vikas Khanchandani's email, BARC responded on October 17, 2020, by thanking the network for their "faith in the internal mechanisms of BARC" and said that "if there was any disciplinary action initiated against ARG Outlier Media Private Ltd, then BARC India would have communicated the same to you along with necessary documents for your response."

Thus, this e-mail proves that BARC did not allege any malpractice against the Republic Media Network, and yet, the Mumbai Police Commissioner floated a factually-bereft campaign against it, which has been comprehensively exposed at every turn. The email by BARC shows that the Mumbai Police Commissioner's entire campaign against Republic Media Network was based on a lie.

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Param Bir Singh had held a news conference to accuse Republic TV and two Marathi news channels - Fakht Marathi and Box Cinema - of being involved in an alleged TRP scam. He claimed that after an investigation based on a complaint by an agency working with BARC, it has found that money was paid to watch the channel for certain hours in order to increase ratings. However, just six hours later, Republic Media Network accessed the FIR - based on which Police had undertaken said investigation - and exposed that there was not one mention of Republic TV or any affiliate-entity of the Republic Media Network in it; Instead, the FIR named another news channel. Republic also accessed the complaint based on which the FIR was filed, which concurred that Republic was in no way named.

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