New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday (October 15) directed Arg Outlier Media Private Limited, which owns the Republic Media network, to approach the Bombay High Court in the Television Rating Points (TRP) scam case registered by the Mumbai Police.
Hearing the plea through video conferencing, an apex court bench comprising Justice D Y Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee said the media group should approach the Bombay HC as its office is located at Worli.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the media house, expressed apprehensions about the ongoing probe.
The bench observed that "of late, there is a tendency that commissioners are giving interviews".
After hearing the advocates, the top court made the following order:
1. Like any other citizen who faces the predicament of an investigation under the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, the petitioner will have to take recourse to the remedies which are available under the appropriate provisions of law. Hence, the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution is not entertained.
2. Mr Harish N Salve, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner seeks the permission of this Court to withdraw the petition with liberty to move the Bombay High Court.
3. The Writ Petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as sought.
Notably, the Mumbai police has registered a case in the TRP scam and summoned Republic TV's Chief Financial Officer S Sundaram for investigation. The owners of channels Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema have already been arrested in the case.
