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Informist, Monday, Sep 2, 2024

 

MUMBAI – Subhash Chandra, chairman-emeritus of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, has dragged in Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch's name in allegations of bias and corruption against the market regulator. In a press release today, Chandra alleged that "a person named Manjit Singh" approached him on Feb 17 "through reference of known person to assist/resolve issue at SEBI...(and) promised that the work will be done through Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband and all issues of SEBI will be resolved for a price".

 

Chandra was referring to a 2-bln-rupee funds siphoning off probe against him and his son Punit Goenka, who is the managing director and chief executive officer of Zee Entertainment. In an interim order in June 2023, followed by a confirmatory order in August 2023, SEBI had held that Chandra and Goenka were prima facie responsible for siphoning off funds of Zee Entertainment to associate entities owned and controlled by them.

 

In its orders, the regulator alleged that prima facie, it appeared that there was layering of transactions using multiple entities as conduits to misappropriate the company's bank deposit of 2 bln rupees for the settlement of liabilities of entities owned and controlled by the promoter family of the company. SEBI's investigation is still ongoing, and a final order is awaited.

 

In his press statement, Chandra said that Manjit Singh, the person who met him in February, told him that "since you have resolved debt repayments of more than Rs 30,000 crore (300 bln rupees), a three digit payment won't hurt you".

 

The Zee Entertainment chairman-emeritus also said that in proceedings in a related case in the Bombay High Court, he got access to an internal email of a SEBI investigating officer to his team members within a few hours of receiving a detailed response from Zee. Chandra quoted the investigating officer as saying in the email that "this would be the primary defence of the company and its promoters on all allegations against them. We need to shred their contentions".

 

Chandra alleged that this email indicated that there were standing instructions from SEBI Chairperson Buch "to go after Subhash Chandra and his family". He said that a biased investigation was being carried out by SEBI "with a pre-conceived mindset" of its chairperson. Chandra said that he had decided not to cooperate with SEBI any further in his personal capacity.

 

Earlier today, the Indian National Congress party levied fresh allegations of conflict of interest on the SEBI chief. Among other allegations, the Congress said that between 2017 and 2021, when Buch was a whole-time member at SEBI, she received a salary of 126.3 mln rupees from ICICI Bank. Between 2021 and 2023, Buch also got employee stock option plan benefits of 28.4 mln rupees from ICICI Bank, the Congress alleged.

 

ICICI Bank, in a filing with stock exchanges this evening, said that it or its group companies "have not paid any salary or granted ESOPs to Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch after her retirement, other than her retiral benefits". The bank said all payments made to Buch post her retirement had accrued to her during her employment phase with the ICICI group and comprised of ESOPs and retiral benefits. The bank said that Buch had opted for superannuation from Oct 31, 2013.  End

 

Reported by Rajesh Gajra

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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