NEW DELHI: Questioning the intent of Hansa Research Group approaching the Bombay HC demanding the probe into the TRP manipulation case should be handed over to the CBI, the Mumbai police told the court today that the transfer of investigation is being sought with ulterior motives.
In an affidavit filed before the high court, the Mumbai police said, “It is only when the investigation started to expose the nexus between the petitioner and the channel, the doors of this court were knocked to stall the on-going investigation.”
Counsel for Mumbai police pointed out that 5 out of the 15 persons arrested in connection with the scam are former employees of Hansa Research.
Back in November, Hansa Research Group had filed a plea seeking transfer of the probe into the TRP scam from the Mumbai police crime branch to the CBI on grounds of “harassment faced by its employees to make false statements to suit the designs of the crime branch.”
Mumbai police has refuted the allegations and contended that only because Hansa employees are complainant in the case, they cannot be ruled out from any enquiry or interrogation.
“During the investigation of an offence if any material comes to light indicating the involvement of any person including the complainant in respect of the commission of the offence the police is not precluded from investigating the same merely because the information was originally given by the complainant,” the affidavit read.
The police also rebutted the allegations of Hansa that they are compelling its employees to make specific statements against ARG Outlier, the parent company of Republic TV.
The alleged TRP scam came to light last year when rating agency BARC filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, saying certain television channels were rigging TRP numbers. Hansa Research was hired by BARC to install barometers in select households to measure TV viewing patterns. Since then, it has emerged that several Hansa ex-employees were involved in wrongdoing and reportedly accepted kickbacks for rigging these meters in favour of certain TV channels.
