The TLDR: On October 8, the Mumbai police filed an FIR charging three TV channels—including Republic TV—of tampering with their viewership numbers (our explainer here). Oddly enough, on October 17, the UP police filed an FIR against an unnamed channel listing similar charges. The CBI has since taken over that case, and now the Maharashtra government has withdrawn its “general consent”—i.e. its permission to the CBI to probe cases in the state. So what’s going on here? We explain.

First, a quick recap:

• On October 8, the Mumbai police filed an FIR charging Republic TV and two Marathi channels—Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema—of manipulating their ratings. 
• Owners of the two Marathi channels have been arrested, as have employees of the Hansa Research agency. Republic’s most senior executives—CEO, CFO etc—have been questioned. 
• Hansa monitors and collects data from meters that measure viewership in households that are part of a national sample. Their numbers in turn determine a channel or a show’s Total Rating Points (TRPs).
• The basic allegation: Republic etc bribed Hansa’s employees to bribe these households to keep their TV’s tuned to their channels. 

The latest developments: Just yesterday, the police added two more channels to the mix: News Network Channel and Mahaamovie. They have also slapped fresh charges against Republic, accusing it of destroying information and refusing to cooperate. 

Point to note: Both the Union government and the BJP have supported the Republic in the TRP case—calling it an assault on press freedom.

Ok, what’s this UP case?

• On October 17, the UP Police registered the FIR in Lucknow based on a complaint from Kamal Sharma—who owns a media and advertising company called Golden Rabbit Communications.
• Sharma claims to have “reliable information that certain unknown accused” are engaged in a conspiracy to illegally manipulate TRPs.
• Since no one is named, this is an ‘open’ FIR, which means any TV channel could be investigated.
• And as Free Press Journal notes, “According to official data, Golden Rabbit Communications is a Delhi-based government empaneled ad agency. Yet the company filed its FIR in Lucknow through its regional office.”
• Within 24 hours, the UP government filed a request asking the CBI to take over the case—which was accepted with equal speed and enthusiasm.

What’s the connection with Mumbai?

The Republic has been pushing hard in the Bombay High Court to have its case transferred to the CBI. One reason offered: the Mumbai police is “determined to falsely implicate" the channel. The other, the case has nationwide implications:

“The investigation will have a pan-India effect of various stakeholders including cable TV operators, broadcasters, media agencies, advertisers and all other stakeholders and criminal culpability of any magnitude requires pan-India investigation by a reputed agency like the CBI to unearth the real conspiracy and alleged malpractices of any stakeholder.”

So a similar case in UP handled by the CBI strengthens Republic TV’s argument. And it opens the door to the CBI taking over the TRP case—much as they did with Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide. Or at least that’s the reason offered by the Maharashtra government for withdrawing “general consent” to the CBI.

What does that mean? ‘General consent’?

Under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, the CBI requires the ‘general consent’ of the local government to conduct an investigation in that state—because the agency has jurisdiction only over Central government departments and employees. Local law and order falls under the remit of states as per the Constitution.  

So think of it as a kind of a blanket permission. But states can withdraw that consent any time they choose—which is what Maharashtra did, making it the fourth state government to do so. The others are West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh—all of which are ruled by Opposition parties.

And what does that achieve?

It staves off a repeat of what happened in the Rajput case. His family filed an FIR in Bihar, demanded that the Supreme Court transfer their case to the CBI—which then used that ‘win’ to take over the Mumbai case, as well. As FPJ drily notes:

“This is the second time since the Sushant Singh Rajput case broke that an investigation has meandered and found its way—along a zig-zag path—from the Mumbai Police to a BJP-ruled state (Bihar) and then the CBI.”

And the Maharashtra government has not been coy about making that connection. It called a meeting the moment the UP case was filed—calling it a “tipping point.” The home minister told TOI:

“We did discuss the ongoing probe into the TRP scam. Fears were expressed that CBI may take over the probe, therefore it was felt that consent granted to CBI in 1989 should be withdrawn.”

Point to note: This does not affect investigations already underway, such as the Rajput case.”

So the CBI has been blocked?

For now. The agency will now need a Supreme Court order to override the state government. So it will be interesting to see its next move.

And why do I care?

It shows how key institutions—be it courts, the police or the CBI—have been reduced to pawns in an escalating political battle between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. And it makes clear that cases are now filed—be it against Rhea Chakraborty or Republic TV—to score political points. Irrespective of where your sympathies lie, all of this is terrible news for our democracy.

Reading list

Our previous explainer offers the best background on the TRP case. Indian Express and Times of India have the most reporting on Maharashtra’s move. That’s about it for this one.