The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a plea from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging a Bombay High Court order that allowed New Delhi Television (NDTV) to pursue compounding proceedings for alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The bench, comprising Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih, ruled that there was no merit in the ED's claims, reaffirming the High Court's 2018 decision which directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider NDTV's compounding applications without influence from the ED. This case traces back to 2015 when the ED issued showcause notices to NDTV over alleged foreign exchange violations amounting to over Rs 2,000 crore. NDTV has contested these allegations while seeking to resolve the matter through compounding to mitigate the impact on its stakeholders. The Supreme Court's ruling underscores the independence of institutions like the RBI in deciding on compounding applications. The ED's opposition was rooted in allegations of money laundering, but the court maintained that such suspicions alone do not justify interference in the RBI's statutory powers.