Zee Entertainment Enterprises founder Subhash Chandra has stated that he will not cooperate with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in its ongoing investigation into fund siphoning.
Chandra, who is accused of stealing ₹200 crore from Zee, charged Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairman of SEBI, on Monday of being biased and corrupt, and she was held accountable for the failure of the Zee-Sony merger. To get her removed from the position, he said he would file a court motion.
SEBI has not been acting in the best interests of ZEE Entertainment’s investors. With approval from the stock exchange and SEBI, the ZEE-Sony merger was moving along nicely. Despite this, SEBI gave BSE and NSE instructions to interfere in NCLT proceedings and discourage Sony from moving forward with the merger. In the end, Sony called off the merger, which caused the minority owners’ enormous fortune to decline, Chandra claimed.
“I have chosen to stop working with SEBI personally at this time. I have no respect for them at all. I implore Zee Entertainment to cease further collaboration with SEBI, as the probe is skewed and guided by the SEBI Chairperson’s preconceived notions,” Chandra stated.
Zee-Sony merger
Zee and Sony decided to merge in December 2021, but after a SEBI probe, the agreement encountered regulatory obstacles. Punit, Chandra’s son, was also prohibited from holding any position within the corporation by SEBI as MD and CEO of Zee. Sony persisted in pressuring for his removal, which stalled the agreement even though the prohibition was eventually lifted.
Following the disclosure of Buch’s pay from ICICI after accepting the SEBI job, Chandra declared he was going to level direct charges against her. But the bank has refuted paying these kinds of salaries.
“I have no reason to be afraid because I’ve done nothing wrong,” he remarked.