Sebi to continue proceedings against ZEEL, issue fresh show cause notice

New Delhi: Markets watchdog Sebi on Thursday said it will slap a fresh show cause notice on ZEEL founder chairman Subhash Chandra, and his son Punit Goenka as it vowed to continue the investigation into alleged violation of listing norms against the media baron and his company.

The order passed by Sebi's adjudicating officer said the contents of the earlier Show Cause Notice (SCN) issued to them will also be incorporated "in the SCN to be issued in the instant matter".

The ZEEL and its top management are under Sebi scrutiny for alleged violations of disclosure norms and initially a show cause notice was issued to them in July 2022.

Following the July 2022 show cause notice, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and Punit Goenka filed settlement applications with the Sebi.

However, the application to settle the adjudication proceedings was rejected by a panel of whole-time members of Sebi and the matter was referred to the markets watchdog for further investigation.

"In this regard, it has been observed that subsequent to completion of investigation in the instant matter, it has been decided by the competent authority to proceed against the notices under Section 11B of SEBI Act 1992," the order said.

Section 11B pertains to Sebi's powers to issue notices and impose penalties.

The order further said, "the content of the SCN dated July 6, 2022, issued by the Adjudicating Officer (AO) including the examination report and all the relied upon documents will be treated as integral part of the further investigation report by Sebi in the matter of ZEEL."