The Delhi High Court on Friday, March 21, quashed the Look Out Circulars (LOC) issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against NDTV's former directors and promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy in 2019.
"The impugned LOC is quashed, subject to the petitioners cooperating with the investigation," Justice Sachin Datta said while pronouncing the order, according to LiveLaw. The full order is yet to be published.
The LOCs were linked to two FIRs registered in June 2017 and August 2019. While the CBI has already closed the 2017 case, the 2019 case remains under investigation, with no chargesheet filed so far, Bar and Bench reported.
The CBI had lodged an FIR in 2017 based on a complaint from an individual, Sanjay Dutt, of Quantum Securities Ltd who alleged that RRPR Holdings Pvt Ltd, associated with the Roys, had taken a Rs 500 crore loan from India Bulls Pvt Limited to acquire a 20 percent stake in NDTV through a public open offer.
According to the FIR, RRPR Holdings also took out a Rs 375 crore loan from ICICI Bank at an interest rate of 19 percent per annum to repay the loan from India Bulls.
It was alleged that the Roys pledged their entire shareholding as collateral for this loan, failing to report the pledging to the Securities and Exchange Board of India, stock exchanges, or the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The complainant alleged that Roys and RRPR Holdings entered into a criminal conspiracy with officials of ICICI Bank while securing the loan.
However, the CBI later filed a closure report in the case, stating that the reduction of interest rates in the Roys’ loan account was not an isolated instance, as similar concessions had been extended to multiple accounts between 2007 and 2010. The High Court accepted this closure report on January 23.