Punit Goenka lodges a caveat with the Supreme Court pending SEBI's appeal of the SAT ruling

 Punit Goenka lodges a caveat with the Supreme Court pending SEBI's appeal of the SAT ruling

When SAT issued its ruling in October, SEBI's attorneys requested that the appellate panel postpone its own ruling until they could file a Supreme Court petition. But SAT declined to issue any such directives.

In preparation for an appeal against a Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) ruling, Punit Goenka, a former senior executive of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), has filed a disclaimer against the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in the highest court in the nation.

A filing submitted by a party in a lower court action that notifies the court that the other party, who has not prevailed in the lower court, may launch a lawsuit against them is known as a caveat. In the event that a caveat is filed, the court must hear both parties before making any decisions.

On October 30, the SAT overturned a SEBI ruling that prevented Goenka from occupying important management roles at ZEEL and other businesses until it finished looking into the accusations made against him. SEBI has a history of not finishing investigations on time, as SAT had pointed out.

SEBI's attorneys requested that the appellate panel postpone its own ruling until they could file an appeal with the Supreme Court after SAT issued its ruling. But SAT declined to issue any such directives.

Goenka had contested a directive issued by SEBI in August, requesting that its investigators wrap up their investigation within eight months. In addition, the decision prohibited Goenka and Subash Chandra, the former directors of ZEEL, from assuming any significant administrative roles until the probe was concluded.

What made Sebi ban Chandra and Goenka?

The market watchdog said that the two assisted in removing money from ZEEL and returning it to the business via convoluted and multi-layered transactions. The statement said that they achieved this by "falsely portraying that ZEEL had received the dues from associate entities."

Chandra and Goenka, according to Sebi, "abused their positions" to further their own financial interests. The media outlet located in Mumbai was discovered to have falsified loan recovery documents in order to conceal private funding arrangements made by its founder, Chandra.

Zee-Sony alliance

These events follow the National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT) August 10 approval of ZEEL's merger with Culver Max Entertainment, formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India.

With over 70 TV stations, two video streaming services (Zee5 and SonyLiv), and two film studios (Zee Studios and Sony Pictures Films India), the merged company is expected to be a $10 billion media behemoth.