Param Bir Singh, the former Commissioner of Police in Mumbai has ‘unconditionally’ withdrawn the defamation suit of Rs 90 lakhs filed against Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami and ARG Outliers Ltd, the company that owns Republic TV.
BREAKING : Former Mumbai Police Commissioner PARAM BIR SINGH unconditionally withdraws Rs90L defamation suit against ARNAB GOSWAMI.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) December 14, 2022
Court imposes cost of Rs. 1500 on Param Bir Singh payable to Goswami. #ParamBirSingh #ArnabGoswami #TRPCase pic.twitter.com/Rw7gcSuDzy
As reported by Live Law, the court has imposed a penalty of Rs 1500 on Param Bir Singh, citing that the defendant must have had to engage lawyers to face the lawsuit.
ARG Outlier Ltd was the second respondent in the suit. The suit has been withdrawn against them too.
It is notable here that in October 2020, after the Maharashtra government admitted in court that Republic TV is not named in the FIR in the TRP case, the channel had declared that they would sue former police chief Parambir Singh for Rs 200 crores, for naming the channel in his press conference without any factual basis.
Under Param Bir Singh, Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami was arrested under an old case that was already closed. The role of Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and Parambir Singh in harassing Goswami in a closed case was highlighted. Soon, Parambir Singh turned against Deshmukh, saying that tainted police officer Sachin Vaze was asked to collect Rs 100 crores in extortion money every month by Deshmukh.
He had also revealed that Arnab Goswami was deliberately targeted in an old case related to the abetment of suicide under specific orders from the MVA government.
Param Bir Singh and Sachin Vaze are facing multiple criminal charges in the Antilla bomb scare case, Mansukh Hiren murder case and other cases.
Earlier this year, Param Bir Singh had 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.
In March 2022, the Supreme Court of India transferred all cases against Singh to CBI. The SC had criticised the then MVA government for lapses in the investigation.
