SC Refuses Republic TV Plea Seeking Protection For Cases Against It In Maharashtra

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by ARG Outlier Media Private Limited (owner of Republic Media) calling it ‘all ambitious’. The plea sought protection for the group and its employees in the cases lodged against them in Maharashtra.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud. “This petition is ambitious in nature. You want Maharashtra police not to arrest any employee and transfer the cases to CBI. You better withdraw this,” Justice Chandrachud told senior advocate Milind Sathe, who appeared for ARG Outlier Media, The New Indian Express (TNIE) reported.

Sathe told the bench that they have filed the plea to stop the Maharashtra police from “hounding” their media network, its Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and its employees.

“You have sought all the reliefs and these can’t be entertained in one petition,” the bench said, after which Sathe said he would withdraw the plea. The apex court allowed Sathe to withdraw the petition with liberty to take appropriate remedies available under the law, the report added.

Demands in the plea

There should be a CBI inquiry against the state and its police in the matter for lodging several cases against the media group and its employees.
No editorial and other staff members of the media group should be arrested by the Maharashtra police.

It may be recalled that Mumbai Police had registered a case in the alleged Television Rating Points (TRP) manipulation scam and Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had claimed that three channels, including Republic TV, had manipulated the TRP.

ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd has denied these allegations.