Republic & Arnab send Param Bir Singh defamation notice seeking ₹200 cr damages; Read here

The Republic Media Network has issued a defamation notice to Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh for making false, malicious and malafide statements against the network and its Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, seeking Rs 200 crore in damages. The notice, sent by Republic's legal team at Phoenix Legal, dated October 23 has given Singh seven days to withdraw all allegations made at his October 8 press conference and his interviews to several news channels, newspapers, and tender an unconditional apology. The notice also advises him to cease and desist from making any such defamatory statements or insinuations against Arnab and Republic. In case of failure to comply, Singh may be liable to face appropriate civil as well as criminal proceedings, the notice warns.

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Republic issues defamation notice

The notice quotes Param Bir Singh's press conference in which he said, "There is a new racket which the Mumbai police crime branch has unearthed. This racket is about false TRPs. On the basis of the probe that we have done till now, name of three channels have come up. The biggest name is of Republic." Noting that Singh's statements was of ''singular aim of causing prejudice to Republic by defaming them", the Commissioner has been issued the below notice.

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Here is the legal notice:

Republic's Legal Notice to Param Bir Singh by Republic World on Scribd

The notice calls upon Param Bir Singh to do the following within 7 days of receiving it:

1. Withdraw all allegations and aspersions made in the statements by you at the Press Conference and the Interviews under written confirmation to us 
2. Publicly withdraw all allegations and aspersions made by you at the Press Conference and the interviews and tender an unconditional apology in at least six prominent Hindi and English channels and newspapers with equal, if not more, prominence than the original defamatory content
3.  Undertake to cease and desist from making any such defamatory statements or insinuations against our clients in the future
4. Pay an amount of INR 100 crore each to our clients (aggregating INR 200 Crore) towards compensation for the grave and irreparable loss of reputation caused to their reputation and financial and business loss to them, and for causing mental harassment as a direct result of the defamatory statements against our clients made by you at the Press Conference

What is the alleged TRP scam?

Commissioner Param Bir Singh had held a press conference to share details of an alleged 'TRP scam' into which the police were probing - naming Republic TV and two Marathi channels - Fakht Marathi and Box Cinema. Mumbai police has arrested 10 people till date including Hansa research's ex-employee Vishal Bhandari and ex-staffer Bomapalli Rao Mistri in connection with this case. While Param Bir Singh named Republic TV, neither the FIR, remand copy nor the arrested individuals' statements mention the channel, instead naming India Today. The complaint based on which the FIR was filed also, similarly, didn't name Republic TV, Republic Bharat or any other affiliate or the Republic Media Network.

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As per Bhandari’s own confession to the BARC Vigilance team as mentioned in Hansa Research's report, a person named Vinay paid him Rs.5000 as commission for distributing Rs.1000 among 5 panel homes to ask them to watch India Today daily for 2 hours. Apart from this case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing into a case filed by Kamal Sharma - promoter of Golden Rabbit ad agency - alleging TRP inflation in Lucknow, transferred by UP govt. The Mumbai Police has questioned Republic Media Network's employees for over 100 hours and now filed a separate FIR naming top editors of the network, editorial staff and newsroom in charge - invoking Section 3(1) - a 1922 law - for incitement to disaffection among members of the Police Force and defaming Mumbai Police - under sections 500 and 34 of IPC.