In a swift development to the contention between Republic Media Network and Mumbai Police over the alleged TRP scam case, Arnab Goswami is now set to sue Commissioner Param Bir Singh for Rs. 200 crore in damages, a release by the network stated.
According to the news release, the amount is inclusive of — "Rs. 100 crore for damage to the reputation of Arnab Goswami, and Rs. 100 crore for the damage caused to Republic Media Network."
Legal teams of Republic are currently in the process of filing the defamation suit against Param Bir Singh.
The release states that the Mumbai Police and Maharashtra Government lawyer today in the Bombay High Court "contradicted" the Police Commissioner.
The lawyer, detailed the release, "admitted that Republic is not named in the FIR in the TRP case, and seemed to distance itself from the allegations made by the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh."
Following this alleged 'admission of guilt', Arnab Goswami has taken the opportunity to ensue legal action against Param Bir Singh and seek damages via a defamation suit.
Not just this, the release states that Republic will also file a contempt petition against the Special Executive Magistrate and Assistant Police Commissioner, Mr Sudhir Jambwadekar, "on account of the fact that he initiated chapter proceedings with respect to FIRs that have been suspended by the orders of the Bombay High Court."
The news network is seeing this development as "huge victory" against Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh's "lie-ridden campaign" as Arnab has maintained time and again that the network has indulged in no malpractice.
Yesterday, Republic TV had claimed that the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) confirmed in an e-mail on October 17 that no malpractice was alleged against the network. However, BARC India later expressed dismay at the Republic Network's 'misrepresentation' of its statement and said that it was providing necessary assistance to the law enforcement agencies.
The channel was also running an anchor with the #RepublicExposesParambir hashtag, supposedly to hammer in evidences of the Mumbai Police Commissioner's 'false campaign' against the channel.
Earlier this week, Republic TV's Consulting Editor Pradeep Bhandari was questioned by Khar Police for almost five hours in connection with a case lodged against him for obstructing police officers from performing their duty. Last week, the Khar Police had issued summons to Bhandari for allegedly assembling a crowd outside Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut's house at the time of its demolition last month.
Meanwhile, BARC India on Saturday released a statement underlining the fact that the body aimed at ensuring television channels were committed to maintaining a clean and transparent ecosystem, and that BARC remains committed to its stakeholders.
