SEBI Interim Order Against Us Unwarranted And Unjustified, Says Zee Group’s Punit Goenka – News18
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) will hear the plea on June 26.
SEBI on June 12 banned Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka from holding any key managerial position in any of its listed companies or subsidiaries until further notice.
The legal representatives of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Punit Goenka, have criticised the interim order issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), calling it “unwarranted and unjustified.” Senior Advocate Janak Dwarkadas, representing Goenka, pointed out that SEBI had not addressed the alleged siphoning off of Rs 200 crore for four years, but issued an interim order based on prima facie evidence within two days.
Dwarkadas stated, “SEBI has done in two working days what was not done in four years. They concluded that they siphoned company funds without calling for further information, save for bank statements.” He further added that SEBI presumed that every transaction between Zee and a related entity was without consideration, which he deemed as unwarranted and purely based on conjecture.
SEBI had banned Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Essel Group, and Punit Goenka, CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, from holding any key managerial position in any of its listed companies or subsidiaries until further notice on June 12. The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has been hearing Zee Entertainment Enterprise’s plea challenging SEBI’s interim order since then. However, SAT refused to grant interim relief to Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka on Friday.
SEBI had alleged in its affidavit to SAT that Chandra and Goenka had diverted public funds to private entities, stating, “In the instant case, we have a situation before us where the Chairman Emeritus and the Managing Director and CEO of this large listed company are involved in a myriad of different schemes and transactions through which vast amounts of public money belonging to listed companies are diverted to private entities owned and controlled by these persons.”
Furthermore, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is set to hear the potential merger of ZEEL and Sony Pictures Networks India on June 26.
For all the latest business News Click Here
