Zee shareholder Phantom sues Sony entities

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s shareholder Phantom Studios has filed a criminal defamation case against Sony group’s entities Culver Max Limited and Bangla Entertainment for accusing it of being a front or proxy for ZEEL and its chairman Puneet Goenka, reported ET.

The petition includes Sony Group’s president-designate Ravi Ahuja, India CEO NP Singh and other board members of the mentioned entities as respondents.

Phantom, earlier known as Mad Man Film Ventures has stated that Sony Group through various news articles and before multiple legal forums accused it of acting under the influence of Zee and Goenka.

Phantom mentioned that it is its own entity and had been acting in self-interest to protect its commercial interests.

Phantom owns Zee shares worth 1.3 million after investing Rs. 50 crore.

Sony Group’s Culver Max Entertainment and Bangla Entertainment had earlier urged the Singapore International Appellate Tribunal (SIAC) to restrain Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) from seeking legal remedies from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) or any other court or tribunal in India and elsewhere, alleging Mad Man Films is a proxy for ZEE.

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) refused to grant immediate interim relief to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd shareholder Mad Man Film Ventures over the collapsed Zee-Sony Merger. The Mumbai bench of the tribunal has given Sony two weeks to file its response to the pleas by Mad Man Films Ventures.

Mad Man Film Ventures wanted the tribunal to order that any other proceedings in the Zee-Sony case filed by either of the two parties’ companies – Culver Max Entertainment and Bangla Entertainment, in any jurisdiction would be subject to the outcome of the case at NCLT.

The NCLT had issued a notice to Culver Max (formerly Sony Pictures Networks) on Tuesday in response to an application filed by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee’s application seeks the implementation of the $10 billion merger with Sony that was announced back in December 2022.

A panel comprising judicial member Lakshmi Gurung and technical member Charanjeet Singh Gulati instructed Sony Pictures to submit a response to the application within a two-week period.

The tribunal has scheduled the hearing on this matter for today, March 12. Storyboard18