Recently, Ex-Police Commissioner of Mumbai Param Bir Singh has confirmed that the TRP case against Republic Media Network was a hoax and part of a planned conspiracy against Journalist Arnab Goswami. During an interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Singh also alleged that ex-Police Officer Sachin Vaze was taking instructions from the then Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in the TRP case along with other cases.
According to a news release by Republic TV, Param Bir Singh has said to the ED that “Sachin Vaze was taking briefing and giving instruction in the TRP case directly from the ex-Home Minister (Anil Deshmukh)” without any remorse for carrying out a false investigation sanctioned by the powers of the state. Earlier, Sachin Vaze had also admitted before the ED that NCP politician Anil Deshmukh had personally wanted Republic Media Network’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami to be arrested in the made-up TRP case.
REPUBLIC NEWS RELEASE: 1 year & 4 months after TRP press conference, Param Bir Singh reveals TRP case was a hoax pic.twitter.com/cOtreQJT2y
— Republic (@republic) February 3, 2022
Republic TV, which has released a news statement while responding to the development has said, “All these statements which are on-record and have complete legal validity completely prove that there was a massive political, police, and media conspiracy against the Republic Media Network and, personally, against its Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami. The statements of Mr Param Bir Singh and Mr Sachin Vaze, both of whom, fronted and amplified the hoax charges against the Republic Media Network, reveal the malicious intent behind targeting India’s fastest-growing and most popular national news network.”
The media network has demanded an investigation on the role of members in corporate media who allegedly amplified the claims of the false case. Contrasting to Parambir’s claims, Anil Deshmukh who appeared before the ED yesterday had said that It was Param Bir Singh himself who was the mastermind of the Antilia Bomb case. In his statement to the ED, Param Bir Singh took contrasting stands while alleging that Deshmukh along with Shiv Sena’s Transport Minister Anil Parab was complicit in giving instructions to Sachin Vaze for important cases being investigated by CIU. While responding to a question regarding ministerial instructions given to Sachin Vaze, Param Bir Singh was seen quoting, “In this regard 1 state that I am aware that Shri Anil Deshmukh was meeting Shri Sachin Waze regularly for taking briefing and giving instruction regarding ongoing investigation with him. Some of these cases which I readily recall were the TRP case, the DC motors case, Cricket betting case. I would further like to add that other ministers including Shri Anil Parab were also giving direct instruction to Shri Sachin Waze such as the SBUT case and complaints against some BMC contractors.”
Over time, it is clear that both Param Bir Singh and Sachin Vaze have admitted the government’s role in curbing the press freedom of Republic Media Network while falsely implicating Arnab Goswami and his channel in a falsely curated TRP case. It is notable that Hansa Research, the original complainant of the TRP case, had already informed Bombay High Court that Mumbai police were harassing its officials to name Republic in the case. In the original FIR filed by the company, they had named India Today and two other Marathi channels. But Mumbai police had proceeded against the Republic network instead.
