The Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Thursday allegedly busted a fake TRP scam and named Republic TV to be a part of it. Param Bir Singh called a press conference and said that the TRP is calculated on the basis of TV channel viewership in a confidential set of households. Accused would bribe these households and ask them to run some channels continuously even if they were not home. The BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) releases weekly rating points for TV channels in India and its own officials are also being questioned in connection with the case.
Hitting back at the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, the Republic TV announced that it will be filing a criminal defamation case against the Mumbai Police Commissioner. Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami also accused Param Bir Singh of falsely implicating the channel as he asking questions to Mumbai Police on Sushant Singh Rajput's case.
Now, a veteran writer and journalist R Rajagopalan has come in support of the Republic Tv. Talking to a media channel Rajagopalan said, "We have to analyze the press conference of Mumbai Police Commissioner from both sides. My understanding is it has become a tit for tat because it's a personal rivalry between two individuals. Now political parties have also ganged up against each other. Therefore we have to wait and watch whatever the legal terms or press freedom. Police cannot interfere with the freedom of the press. "
Also Read: Republic TV to sue Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh for falsely implicating it in TRP Scam
"Because of the increasing impact of social media, the TRP is increasing as well. My thinking is it is a personal rivalry between two individuals as they both are accusing each other. Again it's a political state, those who are backing one section similarly another are backing the other section. Therefore we have to be very careful," added Rajagopalan.