Seeking legal advise on SEBI order in land pledge case, no bearing on ongoing fundraising: Zee

New Delhi, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) on Sunday said it is seeking legal advice on the order passed by market regulator Sebi barring the company from the securities market for two months and its Chairman Emeritus Subhash Chandra and Managing Director and CEO Punit Goenka for one year in connection with the Hyderabad land pledge case.

The company, however, asserted that the SEBI's order has no direct bearing on its ongoing Rs 2,300-crore fundraising exercise and it will take all necessary steps to complete the proposed capital raise.

ZEEL may challenge the Sebi order before the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), a quasi-judicial body, which has appellate jurisdiction to hear appeals against Sebi orders.


"The company is in receipt of the order issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and is seeking advice from legal experts on the same. The company firmly believes that the order from SEBI has no direct bearing on the fundraising exercise," according to a ZEEL spokesperson.

The spokesperson said the company had already received regulatory approvals from stock exchanges and shareholders for the fundraising plan.

"The company would like to clarify that pursuant to the regulatory approvals received from the stock exchanges and from its esteemed shareholders at the Extraordinary General Meeting conducted on 31st July 2026, it will further take all required steps to successfully complete the fund-raising exercise, which is aimed at strengthening its financial foundation, and will also continue to work towards creating value for its stakeholders," the spokesperson said.

The company also said it would take appropriate legal measures with regard to the allegations made against it and its promoters.

"With regard to the allegations levied against the company and its promoters, the required measures in accordance with the law will be taken to protect the interest of all stakeholders," the spokesperson added.

On Friday, Sebi barred ZEEL from the securities market for two months and prohibited Chandra and Goenka from accessing the securities market for one year over the unauthorised pledge of the company's Hyderabad land to secure loans availed by promoter-linked Essel Group entities.

The regulator also imposed a cumulative penalty of Rs 1.48 crore on ZEEL, Chandra and Goenka. Individually, the regulator imposed penalties of Rs 30 lakh on ZEEL, Rs 60 lakh on Chandra, and Rs 58 lakh on Goenka.

The case relates to the execution of a Deposit and Declaration Agreement (D&A) on December 27, 2018, under which the original title deeds of ZEEL's Hyderabad property were handed over to Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IHFL) as security for loans taken by Essel Home and other borrowing entities linked to the Essel Group.

Sebi noted that the deployment of ZEEL's property constituted a related-party transaction and the company failed to obtain prior approval from its audit committee, thereby violating LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) regulations.

The regulator further observed that ZEEL failed to make necessary disclosures in its financial statements despite Goenka and Chandra having knowledge that the Hyderabad land had been deployed as security and the title deeds remained with the lender until June 2020.

In its findings against Chandra, Sebi said he misused his position as chairman by handing over the original title deeds of ZEEL's Hyderabad property to IHFL after falsely representing that the action had the approval of ZEEL's management.