Dish TV Shareholders Veto Two Director Appointments

Shareholders of Dish TV India approved the appointment of Manoj Dobhal as Chief Executive Officer on 14 June, 2024 but dismissed the candidature of two independent directors, bringing the total number of directors ousted by shareholders to 18 since September 2021.

During an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), 83 per cent of shareholders opposed the appointment of Mukesh Chand and Manish Khandelwal as independent directors, according to disclosures shared with the exchanges. However, 84 per cent supported Dobhal, who assumed the role in May last year.

In response to the voting trends at Dish TV's EGMs, the Subhash Chandra family-promoted company promptly appointed Garima Bharadwaj and Azeezuddin Mohammad as independent directors on 10 June, 2024.

Appointments to the Board

Regarding the appointments of Bharadwaj and Mohammad, their confirmation by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, as mandated for directors and senior executives in television broadcasting firms, is pending. However, given Dish TV's depleted board with only one director remaining, the company stated in an exchange filing that their appointment "takes immediate effect from 14 June, 2024."

These appointments will undergo shareholder voting within the next three months.

In March, another independent director, Ritu Kaura, who was appointed earlier, resigned from her position.

Leadership Transitions

In the past 33 months, Dish TV has consistently declined to hold a special shareholder meeting, despite minority investors removing 18 directors, including former chief executive Anil Dua and chairman Jawahar Goel.

The standoff between shareholders and Dish TV's promoters traces back to September 2021 when Yes Bank, the largest shareholder, urged the board to convene a special meeting, seeking a board overhaul due to dissatisfaction with the company's management.

Goel, who holds a 4.04% stake in Dish TV, faces shareholder criticism for alleged poor corporate governance. Concerns have been raised about the company's investments in its OTT platform Watcho and the board's composition, among other issues. 

Dish TV has refuted any allegations of misconduct.

Chandra, Goel's elder brother and head of the Essel Group, had borrowed approximately Rs 5,000 crore from Yes Bank in 2016. Failure to repay the loans led the lender to enforce the nearly 25 per cent pledged shares. In December 2022, Yes Bank transferred its shares to JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Co., which became the largest shareholder with a 24.19 per cent stake in Dish TV.