[TRP Scam] Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani remanded to Mumbai Police custody till December 15

Vikas Khanchandani, Group Chief Executive Officer of ARG Outlier Media Private Limited (ARG) which owns and operates the Republic TV network was remanded to police custody till December 15 by SB Bhajipale, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Esplanade, Mumbai..Khanchandani was arrested by the Mumbai Police on Sunday morning in the alleged TRP scam case being investigated by the Mumbai Police in which Republic TV has been implicated. .The Police submitted before the court that Republic network in order to increase their Television Rating Points (TRP) allegedly carried out transactions amounting to Rs. 15 lakhs a month in order to ensure that more viewers watch their channels - Republic TV (English) and Republic Bharat (Hindi).It was claimed that police found the alleged amount in possession of Abhishek Kolawade, accused of taking money from the channel for carrying out activities to increase the viewership and thereby the TRPs of the channel.After interrogating Ghanshyam Singh, Assistant Vice President of ARG Outlier the police concluded that Singh was allegedly being directed to carry out illegal activities to increase TRPs for their channel by Chief Operating Officer of the channel Priya Mukherjee, who in turn was being instructed by Khanchandani.Khanchandani's remand was sought on the above grounds. .That Republic channels have been allegedly flouting the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India regulations by paying cable operators and multi-system operators for using the 'dual/ promotional local channel number' to telecast their news channels on more than a single channel..Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda appearing for Khanchandani today opposed the remand sought by Mumbai Police by stating that Khanchandani's name or his role was never mentioned in the chargesheet filed by the Mumbai Police..Ponda claimed that Khanchandani was being involved in this scam only because there is a dispute between Arnab Goswami and the Maharashtra government which started after Goswami raised his voice against the Palghar mob lynching and Bandra migrant workers gathering..He argued that Khanchandani was being targeted because he is working for the Republic TV network which he claimed was a transparent channel. .It was also pointed out that Khanchandani was deliberately arrested on Sunday, a day before his anticipatory bail application was listed for hearing before the Mumbai Sessions Court, so as to defeat his anticipatory bail application.