The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail for Partho Dasgupta, the former CEO of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). Dasgupta is an accused in the fake Television Rating Point (TRP) scam.
Dasgupta had been arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on December 24. Dasgupta was accused of colluding with executives of some TV channels to manipulate their ratings.
Dasgupta was granted bail on condition of furnishing personal recognisance bond of Rs 2 lakh. The High Court ordered Dasgupta to appear before the Crime Branch on the first Saturday of every month for six months and thereafter, once every three months.
Dasgupta's lawyers, Abad Ponda and Shardul Singh, had told the Bombay High Court bench presided over by Justice P.D. Naik that since a charge-sheet had been filed in the case, there was no need to keep him in custody. However, special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray had opposed the bail plea, alleging that Dasgupta was the "king-pin" in the case and given his influential position, he could tamper with evidence.
In February, Dasgupta's lawyers had told the Bombay High Court bench that the ex-BARC executive suffered from a spinal problem and needed medical attention. Dasgupta had sought bail on parity arguing that all other accused persons in the TRP case were out on bail. The Bombay High Court had reserved its verdict in the case on February 16.
In January, Dasgupta had told the Bombay High Court that Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami was the prime accused in the TRP scam. On January 19, a sessions court in Mumbai rejected Dasgupta's bail plea.