Supreme Court dismisses ED's plea against High Court order allowing NDTV to seek compounding of alleged FEMA violations

The Supreme Court in the case Directorate of Enforcement v. New Delhi Television Limited observed and has dismissed the petition filed by Directorate of Enforcement, ED challenging the order of Bombay High Court wherein the court allowed New Delhi Television, NDTV to pursue compounding proceedings which are initiated for alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, FEMA before the Reserve Bank of India, RBI.

The bench comprising of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih in the case observed and has ruled that there was no such case for interference with the Bombay High Court order, wherein the court directed that the compounding application be decided in accordance with the law.

The High Court in the case also observed the role and independence of high-functioning institutions like the RBI, ED, and the CBI.

The Supreme Court stated that, This court found no error with the effective order passed by the High Court in Paragraph 109. Paragraph 109 of the impugned judgment itself records that the application for compounding shall be decided in accordance with law. No such case is made for interference.