On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) announced that it will issue a new show cause notice to Subhash Chandra, the founder chairman of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), and his son, Punit Goenka. This is part of SEBI’s ongoing probe into alleged breaches of listing regulations involving the media mogul and his company.
Details of the Investigation
The order from SEBI’s adjudicating officer stated that the previous Show Cause Notice (SCN) given to them will be included in the upcoming notice for this case. Key points of the investigation include:
- ZEEL and its executives have been under SEBI’s examination for suspected violations of disclosure regulations.
- The initial show cause notice was issued in July 2022.
- Following this, ZEEL and Punit Goenka submitted settlement applications to SEBI.
- However, a panel of SEBI’s whole-time members denied their application for settling the adjudication proceedings, thereby referring the case for further investigation.
Legal Basis for Action
The SEBI order clarified that, post-investigation, the competent authority has decided to take action against the involved parties under Section 11B of the SEBI Act, 1992. This section grants SEBI the authority to issue notices and impose penalties for violations.
Further, the order indicated that:
- The details from the SCN dated July 6, 2022, including the examination report and all associated documents, will be considered crucial to the ongoing investigation concerning ZEEL.
