After advocate for S. Sundaram, Chief Financial Officer of ARG Outlier Pvt Ltd - the company that runs Republic TV and Republic Bharat, sought an adjournment on Tuesday when Sundaram's anticipatory bail application in the TRP rigging case was to be heard, the crime branch submitted that it will not take coercive steps against the executive till the next date of the hearing.
Sundaram’s advocate Niranjan Mundargi sought an adjournment with the consent of the prosecution and the matter was agreed to be adjourned to January 27 with no coercive action till then. The court has directed Sundaram to cooperate in the investigation till then.
The first such submission was made by the crime branch in mid-December when the plea first came for hearing before the court. Thereafter, pending hearing of the plea, the assurance was continued.
In his plea, the 48-year-old had said that an attempt is being made to muzzle the media by filing multiple cases against the Editor-in-Chief of ARG Arnab Goswami and its other employees. He had further said that the FIR in the case has been registered on politically motivated grounds. He has fully cooperated in the investigation and undergone 45 hours of semi-custodial interrogation at the hands of the Mumbai police in the TRP scam, he had added.
While their pre-arrest bail pleas were filed and yet to be heard, Sundaram's colleague and the company’s CEO Vikas Khanchandani was arrested. Sundaram’s advocate had expressed the apprehension that the former too may be arrested in a similar fashion. The court had then sought submission from the prosecution, which was given and came to be continued. Khanchandani got bail later.
