The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, reserved for orders the bail application of Ex-Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) CEO, Partho Dasgupta, an accused in the alleged Television Rating Points (TRP) Scam.
During the court hearing, the Mumbai Police raised the strongest objections over granting of bail citing that the accused were all influential persons and that they could and would tamper with evidence.
The Mumbai Police argued that Dasgupta had a key role in the manipulation and that transcripts of chats allegedly between Dasgupta and Republic TV Editor-in-Chief showed a "thick" friendship, with Goswami even supposedly referring to the ex CEO as his "alter ego" as quoted by Bar and Bench.
Dasgupta's counsel had earlier dismissed the WhatsApp chat transcripts as 'loose talks' and said that there was no valid evidence presented by the police as proof of collusion between him and Republic TV to manipulate TRPs.
He further questioned the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Police in the case.
Dasgupta, arrested on December 24, 2020, is the only accused in the TRP Scam being investigated by the Mumbai Police who continues to be in prison. He is a graduate from IIM Calcutta and was the CEO of BARC between June 2013 and November 2019.