BENGALURU/MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian courts ruled on Monday that former Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra and Gee Entertainment (ZEE.NS) chief executives will be banned from meeting on their boards by Indian market regulators. dismissed the appeal of Mr. Punit Goenka. Position in a listed company.
On June 12, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) barred Chandra and Goenka from the boards of publicly traded companies over allegations of misappropriation of funds.
The regulator alleges in the order that the two were actively involved in the diversion of company funds to other publicly traded companies in the group and companies related to founding shareholders.
The Securities Court of Appeals refused to reverse the regulator’s order, but said there was no merit in intervening in the regulator’s order, and asked the two to defend themselves before SEBI.
The ruling comes as Gee and a local subsidiary of Japan’s Sony Group (6758.T) near a merger announced in 2021 to create a $10 billion TV business. Goenka will serve as managing director and CEO of the combined entity. However, regulatory approval is pending.
Sony’s division said it was tracking developments that “could impact” the deal, but reports said Goenka, whether he is CEO of the combined company or not, has He said the merger was complete.
After the ruling, Gee’s stock fell by as much as 5.7%. The stock is down 25.2% in 2022, but has fallen 16.6% so far this year.
Reported by Sethuraman NR, Bangalore and Jayshree P Upadhyay, Mumbai.Editing: Eileen Soren and Sohini Goswami
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