ED Imposes Rs 184 Crore Penalty on Newsclick and its Director Prabir Purkayastha Under FEMA

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has imposed a penalty of Rs 184 crore on PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd and its director, Prabir Purkayastha, for alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.

Of the total, a penalty of Rs 120 crore has been imposed on the company and Rs 64 crore levied on Purkayastha under Section 42 of FEMA, holding him responsible for the conduct of the company's business during the relevant period.

ED said the adjudicating authority under FEMA passed an order dated February 16 under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, in an adjudication proceeding in the case of PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd relating to violations of foreign exchange law involving foreign direct investment and foreign inward remittances.

In a statement, ED said the adjudication proceedings arose from a complaint under Section 16 of FEMA, filed by the Directorate of Enforcement, alleging contraventions of FEMA and the rules and regulations made thereunder in connection with the receipt and utilisation of foreign funds.

The adjudicating authority, after detailed examination of records, evidence, and submissions of the notices, held that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amounting to approximately Rs 9.59 crore was received during the financial year 2018-19 by misrepresenting the nature of business activity in statutory filings, thereby bypassing prescribed sectoral conditions and entry route requirements under FEMA.

The authority also held that foreign inward remittances aggregating to Rs 82.63 crore, purportedly received between the financial year 2018-19 to 2023-24 towards export of services, were found to be in contravention of FEMA provisions due to misclassification of exports and failure to comply with mandatory reporting requirements, including submission of SOFTEX forms.

"The transactions were deliberately structured in a manner that defeated the objectives of the foreign exchange regulatory framework," said the ED.

ED said Purkayashta was found to be in charge of and responsible for the conduct of business at the relevant time and was therefore held liable under Section 42 of FEMA.

"The adjudicating authority observed that the contraventions were substantial, deliberate, and systemic in nature, involving large-scale foreign exchange transactions and breach of statutory declarations furnished to regulatory authorities. Therefore, in exercise of powers under Section 13(1) of FEMA, the following penalties have been imposed by the adjudicating authority," it added.