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Hansa Research Group Private Limited, the sector analysis service supplier on whose criticism the primary arrest was made within the ‘TRP scam’, has moved the Bombay High Court, alleging that Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch officers probing the case are pressuring its staff to “retract” a report, primarily based on which Republic TV had claimed it was not amongst channels named within the case.
In the petition filed on Tuesday, the 4 petitioners – Hansa Research, its director Narsimhan Ok Swamy, CEO Praveen Nijhara and deputy GM Nitin Deokar – contended that since October 12, a number of staff of the corporate have been repeatedly known as to the Crime Branch workplace and had been pressured to make a “false statement” disowning the report telecast on Republic TV on October 10 – known as the “Hansa report”.
They additionally claimed that they’re caught in crossfire in a “battle-like situation between Mumbai Police and certain sections from media for the last few months…. It is evident that the petitioners are being used by police and certain section from media as means to attack each other and petitioners are suffering from collateral damage in this.”
The petition acknowledged: “Harassment caused to the petitioners by respondent no. 1 (Assistant Inspector Sachin Vaze) is only with a view to extract a statement, albeit false, from them that the…purported Hansa report shown on Republic TV since October 10 is not that of the petitioner no. 1 but a fake one.”
The petitioners acknowledged that they advised Crime Branch officers repeatedly that they might not affirm or deny the report since they weren’t conscious what the ‘Hansa Report’ cited by Republic TV was, because the channel had not sought their permission or knowledgeable them about utilizing the report, and solely elements of the report had been telecast. They mentioned that they should see all the doc to establish its veracity.
Hansa has urged the courtroom to switch the probe to CBI or one other state company, accusing the Crime Branch of being “biased”.
Last month, they’d additionally moved the town civil courtroom looking for an order restraining Republic TV from citing the report as ‘Hansa Report’ since they weren’t knowledgeable by the channel. The metropolis civil courtroom, nonetheless, refused to grant the injunction.
The petition names Assistant Police Inspector (Crime Branch) Sachin Vaze, Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh, Assistant CP and chief investigating officer Shashank Sandbhor, the Maharashtra authorities and the CBI as respondents.
The petition is prone to be heard by the courtroom later this week.
The analysis firm, which was roped in by BARC to be part of TV viewers measurement course of by putting in bar-o-meters in households in 2014, contended that it was formally summoned solely twice nevertheless it has been current on the Crime Branch for hours day by day from October 12 till submitting of the petition, and left the Crime Branch premises on some days as late as 11.15 pm.
On October 26, the petition acknowledged, 4 administrators of the corporate and one vice-president (finance) had been current on the Crime Branch workplace. The petitioners claimed that whereas the Crime Branch officers once more advised the petitioners to disclaim ‘Hansa report’ as pretend, additionally they disallowed their lawyer to enter the Crime Branch premises.
They had been then advised that they had been being arrested and their telephones had been seized, the petition acknowledged.
The petitioners alleged that since October 12, when Nijhara and Deokar first wen to the Crime Branch workplace, their staff have been “kept detained there for over 200 man hours for no justifiable reason”. The solely goal of the Crime Branch, the petition alleged, is to “keep them detained and pressurise and frustrate them so that they make a false statement according to the desire of Respondent no 1 (Vaze) for reasons best known to him.”
Hansa Research Group had lodged an FIR against its worker Vishal Bhandari on October 6 after he was discovered allegedly accepting funds illegally to make sure households watch particular TV channels, allegedly to fudge TV TRP rankings. Ten arrests have been made since, together with these of former staff of the corporate.
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