Subhash Chandra Of Zee Barred From Company Boards

NEW DELHI, (IANS) – The interests of entities, Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka are factually in direct conflict with the interests of the public shareholders and the company, an order by SEBI Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch on August 14 noted.

They have actively tried to conceal the very acts which have led to the loss of at least Rs 143.9 crore to the publicly listed companies including Zee Entertainment Enterprises, the 91-page order said.

While the Entities may argue that even the limited restraint noted above will be excessive and disproportionate in the matter, it is emphasized that the imminent effect of permitting the Entities to be in a position of influence is that the ongoing investigation cannot be fair and complete.

As has been highlighted earlier, SEBI has issued a confirmatory order in respect of Subhash Chandra, Chairman Emeritus, Zee Entertainment, and noted that the possibility of him impacting fair and transparent investigation cannot be ruled out.

The SEBI order said: “In respect of Entity No 1, it has been submitted that he does not hold any position of directorship or KMP in ZEEL or any other company and therefore, the direction seeks to serve no purpose except for impacting his reputation.

“In this regard, while it is not in dispute that as on date, Entity No. 1 does not hold any director / KMP position and is only Chairman Emeritus of ZEEL, one cannot lose sight of the fact that in the instant case, it is the LoC issued by Entity No. 1, which is the original / root cause of the entire scheme, which has, prima facie, been orchestrated,” the SEBI order said.

It is noted from the reply submitted in this regard that post-merger, Entity No. 2, Punit Goenka would be appointed as Managing Director of the merged company. “The same means that he would be entrusted with substantial powers of management of the affairs of the merged company. That very role in ZEEL is under question and therefore, till the outcome of the proceedings in the instant matter, it would be appropriate that he is not part of the management of ZEEL or any corporate avatar of it,” the order said.