CBI completes 2017 investigation against NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy | Latest News India

The anti-corruption agency found “no legally viable evidence that NDTV and its then promoters caused losses to the bank by settling a loan taken in 2009,” said an official who did not wish to be named.

In its first information report (FIR) filed in June 2017, CBI had charged Roy, his wife Radhika and a private company associated with NDTV – RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd – with, among other things, criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct in various parts of the Indian state under Penal Code and Corruption Prevention Act.

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Filed on a complaint by an individual, Sanjay Dutt, of Delhi-based firm Quantum Securities Ltd, the CBI FIR alleged that the Roys-linked RRPR Holdings Pvt Ltd ₹500 Crore loan from India Bulls Pvt Limited to acquire 20% stake in NDTV through public open offer.

RRPR Holdings has also completed one ₹Loan of 375 Crore (with ₹350 crore) from ICICI Bank at an interest rate of 19 per cent per annum to repay the loan from India Bulls, it said.

The FIR further alleged that the Roys pledged their entire shareholding as security for this loan and failed to report the pledge to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the stock exchanges or the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Within a year, ICICI agreed to foreclose on the loan and agreed to partial interest waiver, which allegedly resulted in a loss of ₹48 Crores for the bank, the agency claimed.

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In his complaint to the CBI, Dutt had accused ICICI Bank of “colluding, committing fraud and conspiring” with the promoters of NDTV to facilitate transfer of ownership of a news channel to a “shell company”, thus violating banking violate Regulation Act, SEBI Act, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Rules and Ministry of Home Affairs Standards for News Media Companies.

The complainant urged the CBI to investigate who is the real owner of NDTV and what role did ICICI Bank play in “facilitating the secret change of control”.

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CBI is investigating Roys in another case filed in 2019 for allegedly violating foreign direct investment (FDI) rules in an investment in 2007-2009. It was alleged that a company incorporated by NDTV in London received a total of $163.43 million worth of foreign direct investment and invested this amount in various NDTV subsidiaries through a web of complex transactions. The investigation into this specific case is ongoing.

In December 2022, Gautam Adani’s conglomerate – the Adani Group – became the largest shareholder of NDTV through an open offer.