The case against former NDTV promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, which involved incurring a loss of Rs 48 crore for ICICI Bank through the settlement of a loan in 2009, was found to have no legally tenable evidence to back it, leading the CBI to close the case on Tuesday. The closure of this case comes nearly two years after NDTV was taken over by the Adani Group.
The CBI had initially registered a First Information Report (FIR) in 2017, following a complaint from Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities Ltd. The complaint accused RRPR Holdings Pvt Ltd, a company associated with the Roys, of obtaining a Rs 500 crore loan from India Bulls Pvt Limited to acquire a 20 per cent stake in NDTV via a public open offer.
RRPR Holdings had also taken a Rs 375 crore loan from ICICI Bank at a high interest rate of 19 per cent per annum to repay the loan from India Bulls. The loan, collateralised with the Roys' entire shareholding, was allegedly not reported to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), stock exchanges, or the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which raised concerns over transparency and regulatory compliance.
In August 2019, the Roys were temporarily prevented from leaving the country as a result of a lookout circular issued in connection with the CBI investigation. Around the same time, the Roys were also booked by the CBI for allegedly violating Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regulations. While NDTV had consistently denied these allegations, the legal troubles continued to mount.
Earlier that year, in June 2019, SEBI had barred Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy from holding directorial or key managerial positions in NDTV for a two-year period. This decision was later challenged and stayed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal, giving the Roys a temporary reprieve from SEBI's restrictions.