Sunil Lulla summoned by CBI Court; Ex-BARC CEO refutes charges

The CBI Court has issued summons to former BARC India CEO, Sunil Lulla, for alleged corruption in the TV audience ratings body during his tenure.

The CBI court has charged Lulla under Section 406 (Criminal Breach of Trust), Section 420 (Cheating and Dishonestly inducing delivery of property), Section 465 ( Punishment for forgery), Section 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating) and Section 477 (Fraudulently destroying or defacing, or attempting to destroy or deface, or secreting, a will, etc.).

The hearing will take place in the CBI court on December 15, 2022.

Meanwhile, Lulla’s spokesperson has called all the allegations made against the former BARC CEO as false and in a statement issued, said, “Mr Sunil Lulla has been a high integrity professional in his entire career and has an unblemished track record. His conduct has been as per BARC policies and procedures and all the allegations made against him are totally false. We have complete faith in the rule of law and the Hon'ble courts.”

A leading broadcaster, on condition of anonymity, reacting to the development, told Adgully, “When the industry stakeholders have not levelled any charges, I think there is no need for the government to get involved in this matter.”

He conceded that the BARC ratings tangle is adversely affecting the broadcast industry, more specifically the TV News industry. He pointed out that the News genre is witnessing a fall in ad revenues, as ad investment on news platforms is decreasing.