Zee panel gets probe powers: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd on Tuesday said its board has provided additional powers to its independent advisory panel, which offers the scope to include an investigation assessment. Expanding the scope of investigation assessment by the company comes at a time of an ongoing probe by market regulator Security Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) against its promoters for fund diversion. 

Earlier last week, the company announced constituting of the independent advisory panel to curb the erosion of its investor wealth in the wake of speculations leading to negative public opinion of the company.

In a regulatory filing, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) said, “On the recommendation of the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors of the Company, in its meeting held today, has considered and approved to further expand and strengthen the role of the 'Independent Advisory Committee' by including 'Investigation Assessment' as a primary responsibility of this Committee.”

Board of Directors of Zee have renamed the panel as an 'Independent Investigation Committee', which shall "fact check/review/examine all allegations raised by the regulatory agencies against the company, its promoters, and KMPs through a deep dive exercise".

"This would be done in order to safeguard the interest of the shareholders and other stakeholders of the company," Zee said in a statement. "After completing the exercise, the Committee will submit its report to he Board with its recommendations and suggest actions required to be undertaken by the Board."

Zee said the committee can also appoint/hire any other independent outside agency to assist it in fulfilling its charter. The Committee will be chaired by Justice Satish Chandra. ZEE's Independent Directors Uttam Prakash Agarwal and PVR Murthy will be part of the committee.

(With agency inputs)