Dish TV appoints one independent director

Direct-to-home operator Dish TV on Friday announced the appointment of former bureaucrat Zohra Chatterji as its independent director.

It has also sent four names to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to obtain its prior approval for placing them on the board as directors, as required under the Up-linking Guidelines.

This is the first appointment after March 3, when the shareholders of Dish TV rejected special resolutions seeking their approval for the appointment of four new independent directors.

The persons are Rajesh Sahni, Virender Tagra, Girish Srikrishna Paranjpe and Arvind Nachaya Mapangada.

Chatterji, who belongs to the 1979 Batch of the IAS of Uttar Pradesh Cadre, retired as Secretary of the Ministry of Textiles in 2014.

Dish TV’s largest shareholder Yes Bank Ltd. and the promoter family led by its former chairman Jawahar Lal Goel are engaged in a legal battle over the board representation.

After being voted out, Dish Tv’s four independent directors resigned, and as a consequence, the Board strength of the Company was reduced to two directors.

Besides, Dish TV also informed that it has been fined Rs 4.45 lakh by the bourses for not having adequate strength on the board.

“This is to inform you that BSE Ltd and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd had issued communication(s) dated February 21, 2023, to the Company, pertaining to ‘Non-compliance with the requirements pertaining to the composition of the Board’ for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, under which the Stock Exchanges imposed a fine of Rs 4,45,000 (each exchange) on the Company,” the firm said.

However, Dish TV has contended that the strength of the Board of Directors of the company stood to be in compliance with the requirement of extant provisions of SEBI Listing Regulations during that period as the members had resigned in March.

It further said that the “Company have continuously taken steps to ensure compliance of Listing Regulations… and the non-compliance is beyond the control of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and Board of the Company.”

On March 3, four special resolutions in the Extraordinary General Meeting held virtually failed to get the requisite majority of votes from the shareholders.

The four independent directors, which names were put up for approval are -Sunil Kumar Gupta, Madan Mohanlal Verma, Gaurav Gupta and Lalit Behari Singhal.

The company’s board announced their appointments in December last year, which was the first major appointment after the departure of its former chairman Jawahar Lal Goel.

Earlier on December 30, shareholders of Dish TV rejected a proposal for the adoption of audited standalone and consolidated financial statements for FY21 and FY22 in the AGM.

YBL, having over 24 per cent share, was pushing for reconstitution of the Dish TV board and removal of Goel along with some other persons.

In September, shareholders of Dish TV rejected four resolutions in the AGM, including the adoption of the company’s financial statements for FY21 and FY22, and the appointment of independent director Rakesh Mohan.

Dish TV shareholders, on December 30, 2021, also rejected all three proposals, including the adoption of financial statements and the reappointment of Ashok Mathai Kurien as director.

Goel resigned from the board of the company on September 19. PTI