Delhi Court accepts CBI closure report in a case against former NDTV promotor Prannoy Roy, others

New Delhi [India], January 23 (ANI): The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi on Tuesday accepted a closure report in connection with a case against former NDTV promoters and directors, Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, over alleged irregularities by ICICI Bank in accepting loan repayments from the media company.
Special Judge Shailender Malik deemed the report "satisfactory" after reviewing it along with submissions from both the CBI and the complainant.
The court noted that, on the last hearing date, July 1, 2025, the complainant had stated that he did not wish to file any protest petition as he was satisfied with the CBI's investigation.
The judge said, "Upon going through the entire closure report, documents annexed with the same, coupled with submissions made by the public prosecutor of CBI, as well as a statement given by the complainant to the effect that he is satisfied with the investigation of CBI in the present case, this court accepts the closure report filed by CBI as no criminality or violation of Section 19(2) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 has been found by any of the accused persons."
The case involved a purported Rs 48 crore loss incurred by ICICI Bank in the settlement of a loan in 2009.
An FIR was registered in 2017, following a complaint by Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities Ltd, who claimed that RRPR Holdings Pvt Ltd, linked to the Roys, had taken a Rs 500 crore loan from Indiabulls Pvt Ltd to acquire a 20 percent stake in NDTV through a public open offer.
After investigating the matter, the CBI concluded that there was insufficient evidence to further pursue the case.
According to the CBI's FIR, the loan default allegedly involved a criminal conspiracy between NDTV and ICICI to transfer ownership of NDTV to a shell company, which allegedly violated banking rules and the SEBI Act.
Furthermore, it was claimed that the Roys had pledged their entire shareholding in NDTV as collateral for the loan without disclosing it to SEBI or the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which is a violation of regulatory norms.
Following the CBI's investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also filed a case against the Roys. However, in 2024, the CBI filed a closure report in the case, as it could not find sufficient legally tenable evidence to support the allegations. (ANI)