The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has asked for SEBI’s response to Punit Goenka’s appeal against the market regulator’s order in the next 48 hours.
Goenka’s appeal came after SEBI unceremoniously banned him and his father, Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra from holding any leadership positions at Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The father-son duo are the promoters of the entertainment company.
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As per Goenka and Chandra’s plea, there was no show cause notice issued to them and the principles of natural justice were not followed, before SEBI issued its order. The market regulator had said in its order that the duo had siphoned funds from Zee for their own benefit.
The next hearing for SAT is scheduled to take place on June 19.
SEBI’s order is a major hurdle for the Zee-Sony merger as one of the key terms of the merger agreement is that Goenka is supposed to be the CEO and MD of the merged entity as well. If SEBI’s order is upheld, Sony and Zee will have to amend the merger scheme and name a new CEO and MD.
The Zee-Sony merger is expected to be completed by the first half of the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, as per Sony’s leadership.