The Central Bureau of Investigation has closed a case against media organisation NDTV, its former promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, and others for allegedly causing wilful losses of over Rs 48 crore to ICICI Bank, The Wire reported on Tuesday quoting unidentified persons.

The alleged loss was incurred in the settlement of a loan taken in 2009, PTI reported.

The loan was taken by the Roys from Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited, a company then linked to Reliance Industries that was subsequently acquired by the Adani Group in 2022. This acquisition paved the way for the conglomerate’s takeover of NDTV.

The case was closed for “want of evidence”. A special court will decide whether to accept the central agency’s closure report.

The case was filed in 2017 based on a private complaint by Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities. In June of that year, the central agency conducted searches at the Roys’ homes in Delhi and Dehradun.

The Roys were questioned in the matter by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2022, The Wire reported.

The loan taken in 2009 by Radhika Roy Prannoy Roy Private Limited – an entity that held a 29% share in NDTV – from Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited was also part of the central agency’s investigation, The Wire reported.

Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited was linked to Reliance Industries at the time.

The terms of the loan agreement were such that Vishvapradhan, as The Caravan reported in 2015, could convert it into 99.9% of the shares in Radhika Roy Prannoy Roy Private Limited “at any time during the tenure of the loan or thereafter without requiring any further act or deed on the part of the lender”.

The central agency had alleged that the Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited loan was used to foreclose an earlier loan availed by NDTV from ICICI Bank, which resulted in the alleged loss of Rs 48 crore to the bank, according to The Wire.

The complainant had 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, the stock exchanges and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, PTI reported.

After the searches by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2017, NDTV had said that the loan from ICICI Bank, which it was accused of defaulting on, had been repaid over seven years ago, PTI reported.

The media network also asserted that the allegation of failing to disclose the pledging of shares to the market regulator was “incorrect and false”.

In August 2022, Adani Enterprises said it was acquiring a 29.18% stake in NDTV by purchasing 100% of the equity shares in Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited. This was done through AMG Media Networks Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises.

This triggered an open offer to buy another 26% of NDTV’s stake, which effectively gave the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate majority control over one of India’s best-known news brands.

Also read: NDTV: How Adani acquired a firm controlled by an Ambani aide to launch a hostile take-over bid

Reacting to a closure report being filed in the matter, the Congress said on Tuesday that it was a “classic Modani operation”.

“Remember how GVK was forced to relinquish control over Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports to the jugalbandhi,” party leader Jairam Ramesh said on social media.

In August 2020, the Adani Group acquired a 74% stake in the Mumbai airport, which had been operated by the GVK Group. The acquisition also gave Adani Group ownership of the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport, in which Mumbai International Airport Limited holds a 74% stake.

In July 2020, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a case against GVK Group chairman Dr GVK Reddy, Mumbai International Airport Limited and others for alleged irregularities worth Rs 705 crore in the development of the airport.

The corruption charges were dropped in January 2023.