The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has once again dragged Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. to the insolvency court. It has filed a fresh application before the Bombay bench of the National Company Law Tribunal to initiate insolvency proceedings against Zee for a default of Rs. 225 crore.
On its part, Zee has disputed the bank’s claim as being meritless and an abuse of the legal process.
The IDBI claim of Rs. 225 crore stems from a debt agreement between the bank and Zee for credit facilities availed by Siti Networks, a company promoted by Zee’s founders. Zee was a guarantor to the Siti loan. According to Zee, the bank had in 2022 filed an insolvency case against the company regarding the same debt claim, but the application was dismissed by the Bombay bench of the National Company Law Tribunal in May 2023. The bank then challenged the Bombay order before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal in Delhi, but that appeal was also dismissed in April 2025.
Zee said, IDBI also attempted to make a claim of the same debt under the Debt Recovery Act by first filing an original application before the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bombay, which was later withdrawn, and then before the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Delhi. The Delhi Debt Recovery Tribunal dismissed the application in January this year. The bank then filed an appeal against this order before the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal in Delhi, which is pending adjudication.