NDTV moves Supreme Court over SAT order ‘in its favour’

NDTV co-founders Radhika and Prannoy Roy have moved the Supreme Court for civil appeals against an order issued in July by the Securities Appellate Tribunal, or SAT.

NDTV had earlier called the order “a big verdict in favour of NDTV and its founders”. It had set aside the findings of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, or SEBI, which claimed that the Roys had committed fraud on investors by not disclosing a loan agreement. It also reserved the SEBI finding that the founders had ceded control to Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited, or VCPL, through the agreement.

Accordingly, the tribunal slashed a penalty of Rs 25 crore on the Roys and their promoter company – RRPR Holding Private Ltd – to Rs 5 crore, which in turn was trimmed to Rs 10 lakh and paid last week.

However, the NDTV statement on Tuesday seemed to suggest that the founders and their promoter company have appealed particularly against the Rs 5 crore penalty.

The matter goes back to 2009, when VCPL, with links to the Reliance group, had loaned Rs 403 crore to RRPR Holding, which owns 29 percent of NDTV. In exchange, it enjoyed the option to take complete ownership of the company at a later date.

Last month, the Adani group took over VCPL and announced complete ownership of RRPR Holding. This triggered an open offer for another 26 percent of NDTV which will come into effect in October.

Even as Radhika and Prannoy Roy stare at the takeover of their TV network by Adani, their wings had long been clipped by the Ambanis. Read our report on the loan agreement between NDTV and the Reliance group.