The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on June 19 said that it will hear Zee Entertainment Enterprises MD and CEO Punit Goenka’s plea challenging the SEBI interim order that bars them from holding the position of a director or key managerial personnel in any listed company on June 26.

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Additionally, the National Company Law Tribunal hearing on the Zee-Sony matter is also scheduled for June 26. Read more on this here.

ZEE in the hearing today asked for a stay on SEBI's order. The counsel appearing on behalf of ZEE said that SEBI has no evidence beyond bank statements to prove allegations of round-tripping of funds, cannot pass ex parte order.

SEBI took action against Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra and Goenka, alleging that promoters created a façade through sham entries to misrepresent investors and the regulator about the repayment of Rs 200 crore to ZEEL by seven related parties.

As per Sebi, the Rs 200 crore repaid to Zee by seven borrowing entities actually originated from Zee and Zee did not receive any funds and the entries were just book entries. In response to this, Zee's counsel said that the books of Zee were not cooked and these were not just book entries.

Zee's counsel said Sebi had no evidence beyond bank statements to prove the allegations of round-tripping of funds, and that the market regulator cannot pass ex-parte order.

The counsel said it wanted a stay on Sebi order and wasn't asking SAT to "decide whether entries were genuine or cooked up".

"All entities through which SEBI alleges round-tripping, have genuine biz relations with Zee," the counsel said.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on June 15 refused to pass an interim order on Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) MD and CEO Punit Goenka’s plea challenging the SEBI interim order that bars them from holding the position of a director or key managerial personnel in any listed company. At the hearing, it said, passing an interim order would be virtually allowing the appeal. The tribunal has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to file a reply in the matter before the appellant before 2 pm on June 18.

In the hearing, Goenka's counsel said that the amount was returned back by borrowing entities to ZEEL. The company also informed the same in 2019 through a corporate announcement.

Last week, SEBI directed Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka to immediately cease holding positions as directors or Key Managerial Personnel (KMPs) in any listed company or its subsidiaries until further notice.

The regulator, in an interim order, on June 12, stated that Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka have allegedly abused their positions for personal financial gain.

SEBI alleged that Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka have engaged in the alienation of assets belonging to ZEEL (Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.), and other listed companies of the Essel Group, with the aim of benefiting their Associate Entities.

First Published:Jun 19, 2023 4:23 PM IST