The CBI has filed a closure report in a seven-year-old case of alleged cheating related to a bank loan default against former NDTV promoters and directors Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy for lack of evidence, sources in the agency said on Tuesday.

In 2022, the Adani Group acquired a controlling stake in NDTV by purchasing shares from the Roys at a premium of nearly 17 per cent over the price paid to minority shareholders.

The agency had earlier alleged that the Roys had wrongfully gained ₹48 crore while repaying a loan of ₹375 crore to ICICI Bank in October 2008.

After seven years of investigation, the CBI has now filed a closure report before a Delhi court, which will determine whether to accept the report or instruct the agency to continue its probe.

The case was initiated in 2017 when the CBI registered an FIR based on a complaint from Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities Ltd who alleged that RRPR Holdings PvtLtd, associated with the Roys, had taken a ₹500-crore loan from India Bulls Pvt Ltd to acquire a 20 per cent stake in NDTV through a public open offer.

According to the FIR, RRPR Holdings also took a ₹375 crore loan (with ₹350 crore disbursed) from ICICI Bank at an interest rate of 19 per cent per annum to repay the loan from India Bulls. The complaint 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 (Sebi), stock exchanges, or the information and broadcasting ministry.

Following CBI searches conducted on June 5, 2017, NDTV had stated that the ₹375-crore loan from ICICI Bank, which it was accused of defaulting on, had been repaid over seven years ago. The company also asserted that the allegation of failing to disclose the pledging of shares to Sebi was “incorrect and false”. “NDTV and its promoters have never defaulted on any loan to ICICI or any other bank. We adhere to the highest levels of integrity and independence,” the company had said.