CBI registers new case against NDTV’s Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy for alleged violation of FDI rules

The Central Bureau of Investigation has booked NDTV promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy and others in connection with the alleged violation of FDI rules.

The Times of India reports: “The agency has also booked the media outlet’s former CEO Vikramaditya Chandra under charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption, [officials] said.” According to The Hindu: “The FIR is based on the findings during a preliminary enquiry into the allegations that between May 2004 and May 2010, NDTV floated around 32 subsidiary firms all over the world, ‘mostly in tax havens viz. Holland, UK, Dubai, Malaysia, Mauritius, etc.'”

On August 9, the Roys were allegedly prevented from leaving the country. In June, SEBI barred them from accessing the securities market for two years, and barred them from holding any key managerial personnel or directorship in NDTV for two years.

NDTV released a statement saying a new CBI case “makes the ludicrous charge that the transaction, declared to all relevant authorities in the US and India, laundered money for unknown public servants”.

Here is the statement in full.

Despite a series of cases in which the investigation is deliberately stalled, agencies have found no evidence of any corruption by NDTV. Prannoy and Radhika Roy, the founders of NDTV, as also the company, have cooperated in all matters filed against them. As part of the continued persecution of free press, a new CBI case has been filed about a $150 million investment in NDTV‘s non-news business by NBCU, then owned by General Electric, a massive American conglomerate. The case makes the ludicrous charge that the transaction, declared to all relevant authorities in the US and India, laundered money for unknown public servants.

NDTV and its founders have full faith in India’s judiciary at this crucial time and remain committed to the integrity of the company’s journalism. Attempts to silence free and fair reportage through malicious and fabricated charges will not succeed. This is not about a company or individuals but about a larger battle to maintain the freedom of the press, something which India has always been renowned for.