BackYes Bank moves Bombay HC to direct Dish TV to hold EGM
A division bench of the high court admitted the petition filed by Yes Bank, which is the largest shareholder in Dish TV, owning 24.78%. The court will hear the petition on Tuesday on whether Dish TV should conduct an EGM
PremiumMUMBAI : Yes Bank Ltd has upped the ante in its more than a year-long fight against Subhash Chandra-owned Dish TV India Ltd as the bank has approached the Bombay High Court to direct the satellite TV provider to conduct a special shareholder meeting.
On Monday, a division bench of the high court admitted the petition filed by Yes Bank, which is the largest shareholder in Dish TV, owning 24.78%. The court will hear the petition on Tuesday on whether Dish TV should conduct an extraordinary general meeting (EGM).
Yes Bank first approached the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in November 2021 seeking direction from the board of the direct-to-home company to call for an EGM. But until March this year, the special court could not adjudicate on this matter as a similar case between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd and US money manager, Invesco was being fought in the Bombay High Court. Only in March, a division bench of the high court ruled in favour of Invesco, stating that 10% of shareholders can call for an EGM, and that the board should comply with it.
Still, for over five months, Yes Bank has been waiting for the NCLT to direct Dish TV to hold an EGM. But the special court has not been able to hear Yes Bank’s petition, forcing the bank to knock on the doors of the high court.
On Monday, Dish TV chairman Jawahar Goel stepped down from the board. This was after a majority of shareholders, which constituted nearly 78.9%, voted against the resolution to reappoint him as the managing director in June this year.
Bhagwan Das Narang, Shankar Aggarwal, Rashmi Aggarwal and Rakesh Mohan are the four remaining independent directors on the board. Narang’s term ends at Dish TV’s annual general meeting slated on 26 September while the candidature of Mohan, who was inducted to the board in July, needs to be put for a vote before shareholders before 29 October. This is because under the new rules effective this year, all director appointments need to be put before shareholders to vote within three months.
This move by Yes Bank also suggests that the private lender is not seeking any rapprochement and is looking for a complete board overhaul.
Varun Sood also contributed to this story.
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