Not a single complaint or malpractice found against Republic TV: BARC

Mumbai: Republic Media Network today made public an official email from rating agency BARC stating that there is not a single complaint or malpractice found against Republic TV, Republic Bharat or any other affiliate of the News Network.

With the disclosure of BARC, the fake news- based campaign against Republic led by Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh comes to an end, stated Republic Network in a statement.

It said, ‘Crumbling the pack of lies floated and repeated over the last 9 days by Param Bir Singh and a section of the media, the BARC email to Republic Media Network’s Group CEO Vikas Khanchandani specifically confirms that there is no malpractice by the network. In the interest of making the truth public before the people of India, here are the facts of the latest piece of evidence Republic has put out:

– On 17th October, 2020, the Republic Network Group CEO Vikas Khanchandani received an official email from BARC clearly stating that there is not a single complaint or malpractice found against or by our Network by the rating agency.

– Quoting from the email by BARC, “If there was any disciplinary action initiated under the said Code against M/s ARG Outlier Media Private Ltd., then BARC India would have communicated the same to you along with necessary documents for your response.”

With this documentary evidence by BARC out in the public domain, three things are proven:

1.The Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh’s comments against Republic TV were blatantly false, lies and an extension of political vendetta. It is now incumbent on him to apologise for his lie-ridden campaign against India’s Number 1 news network.

2. That every word uttered across certain sections of the media is false, unsubstantiated and fake news. Now that the truth is out in the public domain, the onus is now on those portals to correct themselves, apologise for the fake news and put out the truth.

3. The Republic Media Network which runs on the highest professional and journalistic standards has been vindicated after a 9 day slander campaign curated by vested interests and we have been duly informed that there was never a case against us.

‘With today’s disclosure ultimately busting the entire charade of lies Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh tried to personally float against Republic, serious questions regarding the malicious attempt to concoc evidence against the Network come to the fore. Right from his news conference on 8th October, 2020 where he claimed that he had received a complaint from BARC against Republic to every news interview he gave consequently wherein he repeated that unsubstantiated and vicious crafted narrative— the Mumbai Police Commissioner went on a tirade against Republic based on a series of complete lies. Now that those lies have been burnt to ash by evidence in the public domain, it is incumbent that serious action is taken against Param Bir Singh as well as all the political masters, should they be involved.’

The statement further reads: ‘By putting people first, nation first, and news first, Republic TV and Republic Bharat have emerged as clear leaders in the English and Hindi news respectively. Republic Media Network will continue to speak truth to power, question those who are answerable, and fight for justice in case after case. Republic Network had always believed the truth has a way of coming out— no matter the powers at play in the attempt to suppress it. Nothing and nobody can stop the truth from coming out. Let this case serve as an example before the people of India of just that.Republic will fight every attempt to bury, pressurise and subdue an independent news network by those attempting to fabricate evidence, spreading mistruths and initiating action based on fake allegations. The Network has full faith in the Honourable courts of law to take this matter and every other matter in the campaign against us to its logical conclusion. We are grateful to the Supreme Court and the High Court for its orders in other cases wherein Republic has been wrongfully targeted. We will fight this campaign against us and come out unscathed, no matter how hard the Mumbai Police or anyone else tries to intimidate and harass us. We will comply with the law of the land, but not for a moment give in to the coercive attempts to shut down our pursuit for truth through our journalism. We will fight this campaign both in the courts of law and the court of public opinion, with the people of India by our side.’