The Bombay High Court will hear on November 29 the appeal filed by Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund against the Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE).
The appeal had come up for hearing before a division bench of justices SJ Kathawalla and Milind Jadhav on Friday.
The largest investors, Invesco and OFI Global, have challenged the order of the single bench of the HC temporarily restraining Invesco and OFI Global from calling extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) as per its requisition for removal of its managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka.
Senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas, appearing for Invesco, argued that the order passed by the single judge at the interim stage will have a far-reaching consequence.
He said: “The order has created three distinct set of companies within the Companies Act, those which are governed under the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB), listed companies and other companies.”
On October 26, justice Gautam Patel had restrained the investors while hearing a suit frilled by ZEE seeking to declare the requisition notice sent by Invesco and OFI Global China Fund be declared as is “illegal and invalid”. Pending hearing in the suit, ZEE had filed an application seeking that Invesco be restrained from calling an EGM.
Meanwhile, the National Company law Tribunal (NCLT) has kept the plea filed by Invesco and OFI for hearing on November 16.
Invesco and OFI Global had sent a requisition to the company on September 11 to call for an EGM for removal of MD and CEO Punit Goenka and two other non-independent and non-executive directors from the company’s board. It also sought the induction of six new independent directors.
As the media company failed to respond, Invesco approached the NCLT seeking that ZEE be directed to call an EGM as per their requisition.
Pending this, the ZEE approached the single bench of the HC seeking to declare the requisition as illegal.
