The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has been examining the irregularities in Zee Entertainment Enterprises as pointed out by the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The MCA has reportedly noted the Sebi interim order and will be investigating lapses in corporate governance issues, according to a report said.
Earlier this year on 12th June , Sebi had banned Zee’s Chairman Subhash Chandra and CEO Punit Goenka from holding any board positions in listed companies for about a year. The market regulator alleged their active involvement in the diversion of funds to the group’s other listed entities and related firms related to founding shareholders. The company, on Friday reported that it was not aware of any MCA probe and has not received any such notification from the ministry, Reuters reported on Friday. Shares of Zee Entertainment closed at Rs 233.70, down by 0.13 per cent. Both Chandra and Goenka had planned to move SAT against the Sebi order. But SAT too restricted him from holding a directorial or key managerial position in a listed company. Therefore in July, Zee Entertainment conveyed that it had formed an internal committee to run its operations after Chandra and Goenka failed to overturn the market regulator’s ban on them holding board positions. The staff of the company were informed that the much -awaited merger of ZEE Entertainment and Sony had reached an advanced stage of completion, and the issues faced by promoters with Sebi should not become a problem for the company.
Priorly this week, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) deferred the hearing of IDBI Bank’s plea against Zee Entertainment till the date, August 17. IDBI Bank challenged an NCLT order, which had on May 19 rejected its plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against Zee Entertainment.
