Under-cloud Adani honcho quits NDTV

 Arun Kumar Singh, a former Indian Revenue Service Officer, was a powerful bureaucrat in the erstwhile Raman Singh-led BJP government in Chhattisgarh

Gautam Adani: File Photo

PTI   |   New Delhi   |  10.04.23  : Adani group corporate brand custodian and head of corporate affairs Aman Kumar Singh, who is facing a corruption charge in Chhattisgarh, has resigned from the board of NDTV Ltd because of “other preoccupations”.

In a stock exchange filing, New Delhi Television Ltd last week said: “Aman Kumar Singh has tendered his resignation from the position of non-executive director of the company, with effect from close of business hours on April 1, 2023, due to his preoccupation with other engagements”.

Singh, a former Indian Revenue Service Officer, was a powerful bureaucrat in the erstwhile Raman Singh-led BJP government in Chhattisgarh and was the principal secretary to the chief minister.

He resigned from service and joined the Adani group in November 2022 as the corporate brand custodian and corporate affairs head. When Adani took control of NDTV, Singh was one of the directors the Adani group appointed to the board of the news broadcaster.

In February 2020, the economic offences wing of Chhattisgarh registered an FIR against Singh and his wife Yasmeen Singh in an alleged disproportionate assets case.

The high court quashed the FIR. But the Supreme Court last month set aside the high court order, saying it was desirable that the high courts do not quash corruption case FIRs at the investigation stage, even if it is suspected that the case has been registered by a new government against officers of the previous government.

After the Supreme Court order, Aman Singh appeared before the economic offences wing on March 6. A week later, his plea for anticipatory bail was rejected by an additional district and sessions judge court in Raipur.

Singh is the second nominee of the Adani group to have resigned from the NDTV board.

On March 9, NDTV, in a stock exchange filing, stated that Sunil Kumar has resigned as an additional non-executive independent director of the company.

Kumar, a 1979-batch IAS officer, was chief secretary in Chhattisgarh from 2012 to 2014.