(Image source from: English.sakshi.com)

Telangana High Court Grants Anticipatory Bail to Former TV9 CEO Ravi Prakash:- The Telangana High Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to the former Chief Executive Officer of TV9, V Ravi Prakash, in connection with three criminal cases that have been booked against him by the Hyderabad police.

Ravi Prakash, the former CEO of Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited (ABCPL), the parent company of TV9, has been booked for forgery and cheating.

The court has asked him to submit Rs 5 lakh as surety and surrender his passport. He has also been asked to appear before the investigating officers between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. every alternate day. He has also been ordered not to influence the witnesses during his bail period.

State prosecutor C Pratap Reddy told the court that Ravi Prakash was not cooperating with the investigating team. The council stated that Ravi Prakash evaded the police in June despite being asked to appear for interrogation. Ravi Prakash had approached the court twice seeking bail and was granted bail on his third try.

Appearing for Ravi Prakash, advocate Diljit Singh Ahluwalia argued that the state should not be involved in a private dispute between the shareholders. Ravi had been alleging that he started facing harassment as he had written emails to the Chief Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) informing them on money laundering by the old and new management of the TV group.

Ravi Prakash was presiding over TV9 channel since its launch in 2004 and was in sacked as CEO by Alanda Media & Entertainments Pvt Ltd in May, which acquired 90.54 percent stake in Associated Broadcasting Pvt Ltd (ABCPL). The police had booked filed cases of forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy cases against Ravi Prakash, former TV9 Chief Financial Officer MKVN Murthy and actor S Shivaji based on two complaints filed by Alanda Director P Kaushik Rao.

The cases were filed after Ravi Prakash had a rift with Alanda after it acquired majority shares in ABCPL in August 2018 and nominated four persons to be appointed as directors on the board. Alanda alleged that Ravi Prakash and his associates had a malafide intention of not allowing it to participate in the management of ABCPL through its new directors.

In the meantime, the anticipatory bail plea of actor Shivaji, who is also one of the accused in the case, is expected to be heard on July 21.

By Sowmya