The hearing of the bail petition of the Republic Meda Network’s Assistant Vice President Ghanshyam Singh, who is in judicial custody after arrested by Mumbai police, was adjourned today until November 24. According to Republic TV, the adjournment came after the Maharashtra government sought the time of 5 more days to respond to Singh’s bail plea. Singh was arrested by Mumbai police on November 10 from his residence and was remanded to police custody.
After being arrested by the crime branch of the Mumbai police, Singh was presented in the Qila court with his head covered with a black cloth. He was awarded 3-day police custody by the court. He was arrested in relation to the TRP scam for allegedly paying money to another accused in the scam to manipulate the TRPs of Republic TV and Republic Bharat. Interestingly, the name of Republic TV was not mentioned in the FIR filed in relation to the TRP scam and in fact, India Today was named in it.
Republic TV has alleged that it was being framed in the TRP manipulation scam. Their claim was corroborated by a statement issued by Hansa Research, the complainant in the case. Hansa Research claimed that their employees were being coerced by the Mumbai police to give false statements against Republic TV in the TRP manipulation scam.
MHRC issued summon to Mumbai Police Commissioner
The Maharashtra Human Rights Commission (MHRC) had issued summons to Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on November 18 regarding the arrest of Republic TV AVP Ghanshyam Singh. The MHRC asked Param Bir Singh to appear before it on November 27. The summons were issued on the complaint filed by Advocate Aditya Mishra. In his complaint Mishra had termed the arrest of Singh as arbitrary for the reason that the FIR filed in the TRP scam did not mention the name of Republic TV. He had requested the MHRC to issue a notice to the Mumbai Police Commissioner to submit a detailed report in the interest of justice.