Republic TV’s Chief Financial officer S Sundaram had moved the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to the network in relation to the TRP scam case into a “media spectacle,” and that rights under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution cannot act be used as a shield against commission of a crime. Republic TV’s Chief Financial Officer S Sundaram had moved the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to the network in relation to the TRP scam claimed to have been unearthed by Mumbai Police. The petition filed in the Apex Court challenges the October 9 summons issued to the CFO of the Republic Media Network in relation to investigation in FIR CR NO. 143 of 2020. Terming the writ petition as a gross abuse of process of law, the Mumbai Police has urged the Court to dismiss the plea with exemplary costs. It was stated that “any investigation in an alleged crime by an investigating agency cannot be urged as a ground for violation of rights under Article 19 (1)(a). Article 19(1)(a) cannot be used to side- step, or prevent any investigation by a competent agency into the alleged fudging of the TRP ratings. Right under 19(1) (a) is not a shield which can used against the commission of any crime under the extent criminal of the land.”
Republic TV had issued a public statement asserting that the channel has not even been named in the FIR, and that only India Today has been named. It has thus questioned why it is being dragged into the case. Pointing to the fact that officers of several TV channels were summoned in the case, the Police has submitted that all have been co-operating in the investigation. A writ petition was filed by AGR Outlier Media Private Limited in the Supreme Court against the Registration of an FIR by Mumbai Police regarding the alleged TRP Scam by the TV Channel. Republic TV’s CFO Shiva Sundaram’s had approached the Supreme Court against the summons issued by Mumbai Police to the news channel. The Broadcast Audience Research Council an organization under the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India measure TRPs with the help of barometers. This installation of barometers was done by a company called Hansa Research Group.
During their interrogation, these homeowners agreed that they had received money to keep their TV sets switched on to a particular channel, even if they did not want to watch it. Line of interrogation cannot be order by the persons who are being investigated or under the inquiry. Thus, the petition that now been withdrawn challenged the summons issued to the CFO of the Republic Media Network in relation to investigation in the TRP scam case.