Mumbai: At the Zeel-Invesco hearing held on Monday, the division bench of the Bombay high court decided to continue the hearing on 30 November. On 29 October, the court had granted a temporary injunction against the requisition notice by Invesco.

Counsel appearing on behalf of Invesco stated that the court’s judgement to give injunction against requisition will have a far-reaching impact. He said “Court cannot injunct a meeting as it is the statutory right of shareholder with one-tenth share capital,” according to a Moneycontrol report.

The Zeel-Invesco tussle began when the media company’s two top investors Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund LLC who combined own ~18 per cent stake in the company had sent a requisition notice to the company on 11 September to call for an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders.

The investors had also sought the removal of long-standing directors and close associates of the Chandra family from the board. The two independent directors Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani have already submitted their resignations.  

The investors moved to have six nominees appointed to the board of Zeel, which included Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepali, and Gaurav Mehta as independent directors of the board for a term up to five consecutive years. The notice was received by Zeel on 12 September, and it informed the stock exchanges on 13 September, adding that the appointments are subject to approval by the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB).

Zeel refused to conduct the EGM citing "shareholders interest" and moved to Bombay high court on 2 October seeking to declare the requisition notice as ‘illegal and invalid.’