The Maharashtra government is taking legal opinion on whether action can be taken against Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami under the Official Secrets Act over his purported WhatsApp chats concerning the Balakot air strike, a state minister said on Saturday. Addressing a press conference here, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also sought to know from the Centre how Goswami got access to sensitive information regarding the strike. He was referring to the purported chats between Goswami and former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) head Partho Dasgupta, which mentioned that Goswami was privy to the 2019 air strike, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) hit the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26 that year.
New Delhi, January 22
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Friday deliberated on the leaked Arnab Goswami-Partho Dasgupta chats and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the alleged breach of national security and violations of the Official Secrets Act.
The WhatsApp chats reveal Republic TV editor Arnab telling ex-Broadcast Audience Research Council boss Dasgupta that something big will happen on Pakistan. The chat is dated February 23, 2019 and the IAF strike in Balakot happened on February 26, 2019. “Those guilty of treasonous behaviour must be brought before the law and punished,” the CWC said in a resolution slamming “sordid conversations that compromised national security”.
Aunindyo Chakravarty
Senior Economic Analyst
If the Mumbai Police are to be believed, then we now have documentary evidence that India’s television ratings system is rotten to the core. The evidence I am referring to is, of course, the alleged WhatsApp chats between the former chief of BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council), India’s main TV ratings agency, and the country’s top reality TV entertainer, Arnab Goswami. The chats reveal a high degree of collusion between Goswami and Dasgupta, where the then BARC CEO was actively helping Republic TV score higher in the ratings rat race, and hobbling other channels.
Nagpur, January 23
The Maharashtra government is taking legal opinion on whether action can be taken against Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami under the Official Secrets Act over his purporte
Anil Deshmukh. File Photo.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh sought to know from the Centre how Mr. Goswami got access to sensitive information regarding the strike.
The Maharashtra government is taking legal opinion on whether action can be taken against Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami under the Official Secrets Act over his purported WhatsApp chats concerning the Balakot air strike, a state minister said on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference here, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also sought to know from the Centre how Mr. Goswami got access to sensitive information regarding the strike.
He was referring to the purported chats between Mr. Goswami and former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) head Partho Dasgupta, which mentioned that Mr. Goswami was privy to the 2019 air strike, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) hit the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26 that year.