The Bombay High Court has directed Subhash Chandra, Chairman Emeritus of Zee Entertainment, to furnish the documents sought by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in its summons issued on March 27 in connection with an alleged fund diversion case.
As per reports, the court, in its verbal order, instructed Chandra to respond to the recent summons, not the one issued on January 12. A detailed order is pending.
A bench comprising Justices K R Shriram and Jitendra Shantilal Jain heard a petition filed by Chandra, challenging the summons issued by SEBI and its ongoing investigation.
SEBI alleged that he attempted to stop the investigation by failing to respond to the summons issued on January 12, reports stated.
Chandra contended that SEBI’s summons used language implying his guilt and requested the court to declare the summons invalid and unlawful.
He claimed that the summons were biased, unfair, arbitrary, and predetermined.
Senior Counsel Ravi Kadam, representing Chandra, announced that the requested documents detailed in the annexed summons will be provided in four weeks. The bench disposed of the matter on Wednesday.
In January, SEBI issued multiple summons to Chandra as part of its investigation into the alleged fund diversion case. However, SEBI reported that he did not respond to these summonses.
The petition by Chandra stated, “From a fair reading of the summons, it is apparent that SEBI has already predetermined the petitioner as guilty at the investigation stage itself, without following due process, principles of natural justice, ongoing investigation is nothing but a sham and a formality.”
Janak Dwarkadas, senior counsel representing Zee, informed the court that the regulator had issued similar summons to the company.
As per reports, the media baron additionally requested the court to restrain SEBI from issuing a final investigative report.
SEBI alleged that in June of last year, funds worth Rs 200 crore were diverted from Zee through related party transactions.
