Jawahar Goel steps down as MD of Dish TV

Dish TV on late Friday evening informed the stock exchanges that Jawahar Goel has stepped down as the managing director of direct-to-home (DTH) company after the resolution of his reappointment failed to receive a requisite majority of the shareholders at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held today.

Goel, however, will continue as a Non-Executive Director, in terms of the applicable regulatory provisions, Dish TV said in a regulatory filing. 

Moreover, the proposal to reappoint Anil Kumar Dua as a whole-time director of the company and appointment of its former chief executive officer Rajagopal Chakravarthi Venkatesh as a non-executive independent director have ''not received requisite majority at the EGM held on June 24, 2022.'' Following this ''Anil Kumar Dua vacates the office of the Whole Time Director of the Company. He continues as Chief Executive Officer of the Company,'' said Dish TV.

Besides, R C Venkateish vacates office of Director of the Company,'' it added.

Goel’s reappointment resolution received 21.05 per cent of the votes in favour, while 78.95 per cent of the votes were against his reinstatement, as per the filing.

On Thursday, a division bench of the Bombay High Court had dismissed the petition filed by Dish TV's promoter group firm, seeking to restrain Yes Bank from voting at the DTH operator's extraordinary general meeting. 

Earlier, on May 19, Dish TV had informed the exchanges that the board of the company has approved the convening of EGM of the equity shareholders on Friday, June 24, 2022, through video conferencing and other audio-visual means.

The private sector lender and the promoter family led by Dish TV chairman and managing director Jawahar Goel are locked in a legal battle over board representation on the Essel group firm DTH arm.

Last year, Yes Bank had moved a proposal for EGM and had sought to remove four directors from the board of Dish TV besides Jawahar Goel.

However, the request to call EGM was rejected by the board of the company. Earlier, shareholders of Dish TV had rejected all three proposals, including the adoption of financial statements and reappointment of Ashok Mathai Kurien as director, at its AGM held on December 30, 2021.

Yes Bank had sought reconstitution of Dish TV board by removing Managing Director Jawahar Goel and four other directors, which was contested by Subhash Chandra family-led promoters, and the matter went into litigation.

The bone of contention between Yes Bank and Dish TV is Rs 1,000 crore right issues by the group firm.

(With inputs from PTI)