Bombay HC Asks Chairman Emeritus Of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd Subhash Chandra To Furnish Documents To Sebi In Alleged Fund Diversion Case

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court chairman emeritus of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEE) Subhash Chandra to furnish documents sought by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in its summons in an alleged fund diversion case.

A bench of Justices KR Shriram and Jitendra Jain asked Chandra to respond to the notice issued by Sebi in March, and not to the one issued in January. The HC will pass a detailed order subsequently. 

Multiple Summonses Issued To Subhash Chandra

In January, the stock market regulator had issued multiple summonses to Chandra in an ongoing investigation pertaining to the alleged fund diversion case. Sebi said that Chandra did not respond to the summons.

His plea contended that a fair reading of the summons makes it apparent that Sebi has already predetermined him as guilty at the investigation stage itself, without following due process, and principles of natural justice. It further alleges that the ongoing investigation is nothing but a “sham and a formality”. Also the notices were not in  compliance with the SEBI Act, he claimed. 

He challenged the notices before the HC and sought quashing of the same.  The market regulator, however, claimed that Chandra was trying to stop the investigation because he did not respond to the January summons.

About The Case

In 2023, the Sebi said its probe showed that Rs 200 crore was diverted through related party transactions from Zee. Chandra and CEO Punit Goenka had contested the claim before SAT. It informed the tribunal that a broader investigation was underway due to the complexity of the transactions.