Prannoy Roy

Prannoy Lal Roy (born 15 October 1949) is an Indian journalist and psephologist, who is the co-founder and executive co-chairperson of New Delhi Television (NDTV) along with his wife Radhika Roy. He won the Red Ink award by Mumbai Press Club for lifetime achievement for his consistent and pioneering contribution to news television and his service to journalism in 2015.[2]

Prannoy Roy
Born
Pannoy Lal Roy[1]

(1949-10-15) 15 October 1949
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Alma mater
Occupation
TitleFounder & Co-Chairman, NDTV
Spouse(s)Radhika Roy
Children2, including Shonali Bose
RelativesParesh Lal Roy (grandfather)
Indra Lal Roy (granduncle)
AwardsAsian Television Award; Red Ink Awards

Early life

Roy was born in Calcutta to an Irish mother[3] and Bengali Hindu father, P L ("Hurricane") Roy, who was a Collector during the British Raj in India. He attended La Martiniere Calcutta and The Doon School, Dehradun. He later won a scholarship to Haileybury and Imperial Service College in the UK for his A-levels and qualified as a British Chartered Accountant.[4] He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (England and Wales) and has a PhD in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics.[5][6]

Roy studied at Queen Mary University of London from where he graduated with First Class Honours. He continued his academic career to earn a PhD from the Delhi School of Economics.[7] His academic awards include the Leverhulme Trust (UK) Fellowship, Queen Mary Prize for results at BSc and an OPOS Scholarship at the Doon School to study at Haileybury College, and Chartered Accountancy from Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1979–83.[8]

His paternal grandfather Paresh Lal Roy was called the 'father of Indian Boxing'. Paresh Lal Roy's younger brother Indra Lal Roy was the first Indian Ace, the first Indian pilot of the Royal Flying Corp during World War I.

Roy married his school friend Radhika Roy[9] and they have a daughter.[10] They are the adoptive parents of filmmaker Shonali Bose.[11][12] He is the brother in law of Brinda Karat, a member of Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the highest decision making body of CPI(M).[13]

Career

Roy was a consultant for a few years at Price Waterhouse in India. He is a TV / digital journalist in India, an author and a professional British Chartered Accountant and Economist. He has been the lead anchor for election analysis and budget specials on India's national television network Doordarshan and for BBC World News' Question Time India.

In 1988, Roy, along with his journalist wife Radhika, launched a television production house called New Delhi Television.[14] On Doordarshan, he hosted news programs "The News Tonight" and "The World This Week." He also started India's first 24-hour English news channel NDTV 24x7.

He has been an Economic Advisor in the Indian government's Ministry of Finance and an associate professor at the Delhi School of Economics. He has also been a consultant to the India division of international accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In 2009 Roy was one of two Indians serving on the International Advisory Board of Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.[15]

He has co-authored A Compendium of Indian Elections[16][17] and India Decides: Elections 1952–1991[18] with David Butler.

Controversies

The CBI filed a criminal conspiracy case against NDTV managing director Roy in 1998, alleging fraud.[19] In July 2013, Roy and NDTV were cleared by the courts and found not-guilty of all charges involving cases filed against Roy by the CBI under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for criminal conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.[20][21]

NDTV, through its foreign subsidiaries, is alleged to have violated Indian tax and corporate laws.[22] NDTV has denied these allegations.[23]

The Sunday Guardian ran a story which exposed the NDTV's financial misdemeanours and malpractices in connivance with ICICI Bank.[24] It provides details of how NDTV's major stakeholders raised funds by misdeclaration of the value of shares in NDTV. NDTV has denied the allegations and the NDTV CEO replied[25] to the Sunday Guardian along with the threat of "criminal defamation". On 5 June 2017, Prannoy Roy was raided by the NIA and CBI.

On 19 November 2015 the ED served a ₹2,030 crore (US$280 million) notice to NDTV for alleged violations under the FEMA act,[26] however the company said it has been advised that the allegations are not "legally tenable".[27]

The "Income Tax Appellate Tribunal" (ITAT) has upheld an income tax department finding that promoters of NDTV used their own shell companies to round-trip investments of ₹642 crore (US$90 million) during 2009–10, making them liable for recovery of tax and penalty.[28]

In September 2018, Roy and his wife Radhika were issued a show cause notice by SEBI for violation of insider trading regulations though their company NDTV downplayed the notices stating they were seeking legal advice on the issue.[29] Earlier that year, in the month March they were fined Rs 3 lac each by SEBI for disclosure lapses.[30]

In August 2019, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a fresh case against Prannoy Roy, his wife Radhika Roy and former NDTV CEO Vikram Chandra for violating FDI rules and routing tainted money of unknown public servants through shell firms.[31]

Securities and Exchange Board of India barred Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy from accessing the securities market for 2 years after an investigation revealed that they concealed material info from shareholders regarding loan agreements, making it untenable for them to hold management positions on the NDTV board.[32][33] SEBI further imposed a penalty of 27 crore on the firm in this case.[34]

References
  1. Rebelo, Karen (12 June 2017). "Pray For 'Christian' Prannoy Roy: How Fake Messages Stir Bigotry". TheQuint. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  2. PTI (26 April 2015). "NDTV's Prannoy Roy bags RedInk award for lifetime achievement". Business Standard India. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  3. Ramesh, Randeep; Jha, Sanjay (22 September 2004). "NDTV makes Murdoch's Star wane in India". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  4. "Famous Chartered Accountant". examideas. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  5. Aspenindia.org
  6. Dr. Prannoy Roy Speaker Bio Find booking agent contact to book top speakers bureau and celebrities. Allamericanspeakers.com (15 October 1949).
  7. "Dr. Prannoy Roy". BBC. 28 October 2006. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  8. "Prannoy Roy". World Economic Forum.
  9. "Prannoy Roy plans to take NDTV global". Rediff. Rediff.com. 14 September 2006. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  10. Chandran, Bipin (31 May 2005). "Prannoy Roy to gift NDTV stake to daughter". Rediff. Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 8 August 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  11. "Shonali Bose on Instagram: "My adoptive parents - my mashi and mesho - Radhika and Prannoy Roy. Two of the most upright human beings on Planet Earth who pioneered…"". Instagram. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  12. "Roys stopped for speaking against Centre: daughter". The Hindu. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  13. "Exclusive Interview/Brinda Karat". www.rediff.com. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  14. "NDTV-theCompany". NDTV. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  15. "Cfr.org" (PDF). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  16. Butler, David; Lahiri, Ashok; Roy, Prannoy (1984). A Compendium of Indian Elections. Arnold-Heinemann. ISBN 9780391032002.
  17. Butler, David; Lehiri, Ashok; Roy, Prannoy (1984). A Compendium of Indian Elections. Arnold-Heinemann. ISBN 9780391032002. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  18. Butler, David; Lahiri, Ashok; Roy, Prannoy (1991). India Decides: Elections 1952-1991. Living Media India. p. 380. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. NDTV and Prannoy Roy – Once Upon a Time Zoom Indian Media (14 February 2011).
  21. CBI case against Prannoy Roy. The Indian Express. (20 January 1998).
  22. "NDTV juggles funds, shares abroad, avoids tax". The Sunday Guardian. 5 December 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  23. "Todays India News". Video.indiannewsandviews.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  24. "NDTV-ICICI loan chicanery saved Roys". Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  25. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. Pandey, Devesh K. (20 November 2015). "ED serves Rs 2,030 crore notice on NDTV for FEMA violations". The Hindu.
  27. "NDTV gets ED notice for alleged FEMA violations". The Indian Express. 20 November 2015.
  28. "NDTV round-tripped Rs 642 crore via shell companies in 2009-2010: Tribunal". The Times of India. 23 July 2017.
  29. "NDTV's Prannoy Roy and His Wife Radhika Get SEBI Notice for Insider Trading". Moneylife NEWS & VIEWS. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  30. "Sebi slaps Rs 10 lakh fine on NDTV, Rs 3 lakh on Prannoy Roy for disclosure lapses". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  31. Pandey, Devesh (21 August 2019). "CBI books fresh case against NDTV, Roys for allegedly violating FDI rules". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  32. Zachariah, Reena (14 June 2019). "Sebi bars NDTV promoters Prannoy, Radhika Roy from accessing securities markets for 2 years". The Economic Times. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  33. "SEBI bars Prannoy, Radhika Roy from NDTV board". The Hindu. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  34. "SEBI imposes Rs. 27 crore penalty on Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy, RRPR Holding for concealing price sensitive information from NDTV shareholders". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
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