Mumbai: Despite getting summons to record his statement in the TRP manipulation racket case, Republic TV’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) did not appear before the Mumbai Police on Saturday. On his absence, a senior official of the channel said that the channel has approached the Supreme Court in this case.
Republic TV channel CFO Shiv Subramanian Sundaram was summoned on Friday. A channel official said that the police have been requested not to record their statement as the matter is to be heard in the Supreme Court within a week.
However, Sam Balsara, chairman and managing director of Madison World and Madison Communications, appeared before the crime branch today and has recorded his statement.
The Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of Mumbai Crime Branch had issued summons to Sundaram and he was asked to join the investigation at 11 am on Saturday. The Crime Branch’s CIU is investigating the fake television rating points (TRP) racket case.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh claims that three channels, including Republic Channel, have manipulated the TRP. The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) had lodged a complaint in the case through Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd, an organization measuring TRPs.
The matter was revealed by the Mumbai Police at a press conference on Thursday. It was said that a complaint was received against three channels, including the name of Republic TV. Officials said that it is being investigated that the channel paid viewers money to increase its ratings so that it can earn more revenue from advertising.
