NDTV on Friday denied reports of SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh buying majority shares in the news channel and clarified to the BSE that promoters of the company have not entered into any agreement for sale.
It was reported that New Delhi Television Limited, among the oldest news channels and founded by Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy in 1988, would change hands soon. The reports said that the founders would be reduced to minority shareholder status with 20% shares, while Mr. Singh would have 40%.
“We wish to inform you that the promoters of the company have not entered into any agreement for sale of their stake in the company to any person,” NDTV said in a regulatory filing by with the BSE.
It came in response to a clarification sought by BSE on reports suggesting stake purchase by Mr. Singh in the company. “The company is mindful of its obligations under clause 30 of the listing regulations and shall promptly intimate you of any event required which is required to be disclosed under the said regulations,” NDTV said in the filing.
The last few months have been eventful for NDTV. On June 5, the CBI had conducted raids at the residence of the Roys. Calling the raids a “blatant attack on the freedom of the press”, NDTV, in a statement, said that CBI had filed its FIR based on a “shoddy complaint” by a “disgruntled” former NDTV consultant who has not obtained a “single order from the courts”.
Former Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu had imposed a one-day ban on NDTV Khabar in November last year for its coverage of the Pathankot terror attack. The government claimed that NDTV imperilled national security by broadcasting the sensitive details about Pathankot air base. The ban was however, put on hold after strong protest from journalists’ unions and a Supreme Court decision to hear NDTV’s plea.
