“All these allegations made by Mr Chandra are malicious. The facts would suggest otherwise,” the source told PTI.
Chandra, now Chairman Emeritus of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), said he is exploring legal action against Buch as he is convinced that the “SEBI Chairperson is corrupt” and has asked other corporate houses to join his fight.
While responding to a question, Chandra said his issue with the Sebi Chairperson also impacted the Zee-Sony merger.
“Yes, this was the main reason for the merger to set apart, and that is why I am questioning today that SEBI is supposed to protect the interest of minority shareholders, and she succeeded in pushing away Sony from getting merged with Zee,” he alleged.
Congress’ Pawan Khera slams SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri over alleged dual salary from Govt & ICICI Bank
On September 2, Congress leader Pawan Khera attacked Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch over irregularities and alleged that she was drawing salary from not just the government but also private banks ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential. In a press conference, he further alleged that several probes on ICICI Bank were adjudicated while Buch was receiving such income. Khera urged the SEBI chief to come out and issue a clarification on the row. While taking a jibe at Buch, Congress spokesperson said that reports suggest the SEBI chief relaxed norms for ICICI Bank.He also attacked PM Modi and HM Amit Shah and said, ‘The role of SEBI is to regulate the share market where we all invest our money. Who appoints the chairperson of SEBI? This is the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This committee has two members for appointing the chairperson of SEBI…’.
Chandra also claimed that he wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman regarding the matter but has not received a response. He also alleged that Buch is “biased” against him and he has taken a decision “not to cooperate with SEBI any further”. He also urged ZEEL to “stop cooperating with SEBI any further; since it is a biased investigation being carried out; with a pre-conceived mindset of SEBI Chairperson.”
“ICICI Bank and my investigation tells me that Madhabi Puri Buch and Chanda Kochhar at that time, were constantly on phone calls,” he said, adding: “She was the very close person, and Chanda Kochhar was the one who was giving the money to her, which has been revealed today this morning, for crores of rupees, she was taking illegally from ICICI,” Chandra told reporters.
This controversy arose after SEBI last year alleged siphoning of funds as the father-son duo used fixed deposits (FDs) of Rs 200 crore of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) to repay loans of certain entities.
Chandra and his son Goenka were barred from holding the position of director or key management personnel in any listed firm until further orders by Sebi.
Both Chandra and Punit Goenka challenged the Sebi directive before the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), which stayed the order.
(With PTI inputs)
