The Bombay High Court today directed the Mumbai Police to give prior notice of three days to Republic TV's editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami if it wanted to arrest him in the Television Rating Point (TRP) scam case. The Maharashtra government has assured Bombay HC that it will complete an enquiry into the role of Republic TV in the TRP manipulation case within 12 weeks.
A division bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale also rejected the submission of state counsel Deepak Thakre that Arnab Goswami had to face the investigation and could not claim any special status.
The bench remarked the police had been investigating the case for three months now and Arnab Goswami’s name is yet to be named as an accused in the case.
Goswami’s counsel Ashok Mundargi had argued that the cases were purposely fielded to target his clients for adverse reportage against the police and state government. He had said the probe by the police against Arnab Goswami and other employees of ARG Outlier Media, which runs all Republic TV channels, was malafide.
Mundargi further said that though other channels were also named in the case, only his client’s channel is being questioned, adding that it has been four months since the investigation has started and the police had been unable to get any evidence.
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The bench has sought to know as to when the police would conclude the probe.
Noting that the investigation cannot stay further as there is no clarity as to who is and who is not an accused, the court will hear the plea on June 28 and the court ordered Goswami to co-operate with the investigation.