The Bombay high court yesterday (October 21) asked the Board of Directors of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Zee) to call for an extraordinary general meeting as demanded by its largest investor, Invesco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund. However, it added that the voting result of the EGM must be kept in abeyance till it had decided on the legality of the demand raised by Invesco. It also said, the EGM resolution will be subject to the I & B ministry’s approval. The HC asked the warring parties to propose a date for the EGM and name of a neutral chairman to conduct the meeting. The HC was hearing a case filed by Zee that sought to declare Invesco’s demand for an EGM as invalid on grounds that it suffered from multiple legal infirmities.
Invesco had in September asked the ZEEL Board to convene an EGM to oust Managing Director and CEO Punit Goenka and two other directors. It also sought the appointment of multiple independent directors on the Board. The two other directors (Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani) resigned soon after the demand by Invesco.
Following the HC order, Invesco will withdraw its petition against Zee from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It had complained to the NCLT that Zee had failed to announce an EGM date to remove Goenka. The matter is slated for hearing by the NCLT on October 26. The Bombay high court said that Zee’s right to contest the validity of the resolutions after the EGM can be reserved and that it was premature to assume that the resolutions would be passed or not.