The CBI filed its closure report last month, ending a seven-year long investigation.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has cleared NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy of any criminal wrongdoing in a case concerning a Rs 375 crore loan from ICICI Bank, concluding that there was “no evidence of collusion, criminal conspiracy, or abuse of official position” by any ICICI Bank officials. The central probe agency filed its closure report last month, ending a seven-year investigation into the 2017 case.
A PTI report from November 13 said that the CBI FIR was registered based on a complaint from Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities Ltd had alleged that ICICI Bank had sanctioned a loan of Rs 375 crore in 2008 against the entire 61 percent shareholding of the promoters as collateral. The bank, according to the complaint, had allegedly accepted the repayment of the loan by reducing the interest rate from 19 percent per annum to 9.5 percent causing a wrongful loss of Rs 48 crore to the bank and corresponding gain to the promoters, the report stated.
Dutt alleged that the Roys and their company, RRPR Holdings Pvt Ltd, conspired with unknown ICICI Bank officials to cause a loss of Rs 48 crore to the bank. RRPR Holdings was controlling the news channel NDTV, founded by the Roys, until its acquisition by businessman Gautam Adani in 2022.
However, in its closure report, the CBI found no merit in these allegations.
“The central investigation agency after nearly seven years of the probe came to the conclusion that the reduction of the rate of interest from 19 percent to 9.65 percent as approved on August 5, 2009, was based on various factors -- borrowers' inability to pay, weak financial performance of NDTV, timely payments in the past, volatile share price, etc, officials in the know of the development said,” wrote PTI.
Further supporting the CBI's conclusion, a forensic audit conducted by Pramod Kumar and Associates classified the loan repayment as a “normal business transaction” and found no violations of the Banking Regulation Act, PTI reported.
The probe agency clarified that the loan did not breach the Banking Regulation Act, citing that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had clarified that loans secured by shares under a Non-Disposal Undertaking-Power of Attorney (NDU-POA) agreement, which prevents the disposal of shares, did not constitute a pledge and were not prohibited. The CBI noted that ICICI Bank had financed similar loans in over 30 cases under the NDU-POA arrangement, totaling approximately Rs 15,000 crore, up until October 2009.
The CBI also pointed out that ICICI Bank had sanctioned other loans with similar credit ratings (BB) to different companies during the same period, demonstrating that the loan to RRPR, the promoter company, was not an isolated incident.
The CBI also dismissed allegations that the Roys had failed to disclose the pledge of their shares to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) asserting that SEBI's disclosure requirements, which came into effect in 2009, did not apply to the 2008 loan transaction. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting also clarified that NDTV was not required to seek permission for pledging its shares under the existing government guidelines
While this case is now closed, a separate investigation into alleged violations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) norms remains ongoing. NDTV and its promoters have welcomed the CBI’s decision, which clears them of any criminal activity related to the loan transaction.