Zee Entertainment, Punit Goenka Challenge SEBI's Market Ban Over Hyderabad Property Pledge

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) and its former Managing Director and CEO Punit Goenka have approached the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), challenging an order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The order restrains them from accessing the securities market over the alleged unauthorized pledging of ZEEL's Hyderabad property.

SEBI, on July 31, 2026, restrained ZEEL from accessing the securities market for two months. Goenka and former Chairman Subhash Chandra were debarred from the securities market for one year.

The action followed SEBI's finding that ZEEL's Hyderabad property had been used as security for loans obtained by promoter-linked entities. SEBI held that the property was pledged without the requisite corporate approvals.

The regulator found that in December 2018, Chandra executed a Declaration and Acknowledgement and deposited the property's original title deeds with Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited, creating a first-ranking mortgage to secure loans of around ₹726 crore taken by four Essel Group entities.

SEBI held that the security was created without approval of ZEEL's Audit Committee, Board or shareholders and that the arrangement was not disclosed as a related-party transaction. It also found lapses in disclosure of the contingent liability and the Delhi High Court proceedings concerning the property.

It also imposed monetary penalties of ₹30 lakh on ZEEL, ₹58 lakh on Goenka and ₹60 lakh on Chandra for violations of the LODR Regulations, PFUTP Regulations, and the SEBI Act.

The appeal is yet to be listed.