Complaint by Quantum alleges Rs 48-cr loss caused to bank to benefit NDTV promoters
Business News - Officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday raided the residence of senior journalist and co-founder of listed broadcaster New Delhi Television (NDTV) Prannoy Roy and other premises linked to the organisation.
The investigation agency has registered a case against Prannoy Roy, his wife and NDTV co-promoter Radhika Roy, their private firm RRPR Holdings and NDTV India. The First Information Report (FIR) also mentions “unnamed ICICI Bank officials” among the suspects.
Shares of NDTV tanked nearly 7 per cent intra-day. The stock plunged 6.74 per cent to Rs 58.10, a 52-week low, on the BSE during the day. Later, it trimmed some of the losses and ended at Rs 60.45, down 2.97 per cent.
NDTV said it would fight the “witch-hunt”. It called the CBI action an attempt to undermine democracy.
The FIR, which has alleged criminal conspiracy and invoked Prevention of Corruption Act, was based on a complaint by Quantum Securities, a firm run by Delhi-based stockbroker and NDTV shareholder Sanjay Dutt. Dutt, who once shared a close relationship with the Roys, had lodged several complaints against NDTV and its promoters with various agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the income tax department.
A statement from the company said: “It is shocking that the CBI conducted searches on NDTV offices and the residence of its promoters without even conducting a Preliminary Enquiry. This is a blatant political attack on the freedom of the press, as sources confirm that under pressure, the CBI has been compelled to file an FIR based on a shoddy complaint by a disgruntled former consultant at NDTV called Sanjay Dutt, who has been making false allegations and filing cases in courts of law with these false allegations. So far, he has not obtained a single order from any of these courts. Legal analysts are astounded that where courts have rejected giving any order in all these years, the CBI conducts raids based on what is a private complaint".
Shares of NDTV tanked nearly 7 per cent intra-day. The stock plunged 6.74 per cent to Rs 58.10, a 52-week low, on the BSE during the day. Later, it trimmed some of the losses and ended at Rs 60.45, down 2.97 per cent.
NDTV said it would fight the “witch-hunt”. It called the CBI action an attempt to undermine democracy.
A statement from the company said: “It is shocking that the CBI conducted searches on NDTV offices and the residence of its promoters without even conducting a Preliminary Enquiry. This is a blatant political attack on the freedom of the press, as sources confirm that under pressure, the CBI has been compelled to file an FIR based on a shoddy complaint by a disgruntled former consultant at NDTV called Sanjay Dutt, who has been making false allegations and filing cases in courts of law with these false allegations. So far, he has not obtained a single order from any of these courts. Legal analysts are astounded that where courts have rejected giving any order in all these years, the CBI conducts raids based on what is a private complaint".
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