Former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta held in TRP Scam, granted bail by Bombay High Court

Mumbai: Accused in the Television Rating Points (TRP) scam case, former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) CEO Partho Dasgupta was granted bail today by the Bombay High Court.

Dasgupta was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and two solvent sureties of the same amount.

Earlier, his bail plea was denied by the sessions court which observed that Dasgupta played a vital role in the scam and "appears to be the mastermind" of the scam. He later approached the High Court in January.

Dasgupta was accused of misusing his position and conspiring with ARG Outlier Media, the company that runs all Republic TV channels, and with Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, to manipulate TRPs.

However, both Dasgupta and Republic TV denied any wrongdoing. Dasgupta was arrested on December 24 last year.

Last year in October after a complaint was filed by Hansa Research Group Private Ltd, an affiliate of BARC, the Mumbai Police's Crime Branch has registered an FIR in the alleged TRP manipulation case.

Dasgupta who served as the BARC's CEO between June 2013 to November 2019 is accused of receiving lakhs of rupees from Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, for manipulating TRPs for his channel.

Reportedly, there have been serious allegations against Dasgupta and Goswami. As per a leaked WhatsApp conversation between them, it revealed that Goswami had prior knowledge of the Balakot air strike.

During the judgment, Dasgupta's counsel defended that the WhatsApp chats, including his co-accused Goswami, was merely 'loose talks".

The Mumbai police on the other hand relied on Dasgupta's statement that stated Goswami bribed him to ensure manipulation of TRP ratings and that make Republic TV get number 1 rating.

Dasgupta's counsel while urging for his bail said the police had already filed their charge sheet in the case and that his custodial interrogation was not required any more.

The court directed Dasgupta to surrender his passport to the police station concerned and not leave India without permission of the trial court and to attend the case trial as and when required and not tamper with evidence or witnesses in the case.

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