Anil Kumar Dua, chief executive officer, Dish TV, on Tuesday stepped down from his position, the direct-to-home (DTH) operator said in an exchange filing, coming just ahead of the company’s extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) slated for June 9.
The satellite TV operator also said that the company’s chief operating officer Manoj Dobhal could replace Dua after clearance from the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB).
Dua, who joined the company as Group CEO in May 2017, would serve his three-month notice period, with his final working day set for August 22, Dish TV said.
More importantly, Dua’s resignation comes within a week of minority shareholders of Dish TV asking the company to convene an EGM citing corporate governance issues and questionable investments.
The shareholders, who have a 10.15% stake in the company, have asked for the removal of two long-term directors on the board and for the appointment of three new directors. These include K Badri Narayanan, Satish Kumar Yanmandra and Jeet Sen Gupta, they said last week. The minority shareholders include IndusInd Bank, Phoenix ARC and Aditya Birla Capital, among other institutional and individual investors.
Speaking to FE, Rahul Hingmire, partner at Vis Legis Law Practice, a Mumbai-based law firm representing the 77 minority shareholders, had said amongst Dish TV’s questionable investments was one where a sum of Rs 1,218 crore was made in the company’s over-the-top platform Watcho in FY20.
“This was 20% of the total netblock of the fixed assets, intangibles, investments and capital WIP (work in progress) of Rs 6,012 crore in FY20. This investment was qualified in FY20 and in FY21. Upon lenders and investors questioning the investment, the company made an impairment of Rs 203 crore in FY22,” Hingmire said.
Dish TV’s largest shareholder Yes Bank, which has a 24% stake in the company, and the promoter family led by its former chairman Jawahar Lal Goel (which has a 4% stake) are already engaged in a legal dispute over board representation in the company.
In December, Yes Bank had transferred its stake to JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Co, along with underlying loans to Essel group companies. The development was part of the lender’s move to transfer bad loans worth Rs 48,000 crore from its books to the asset reconstruction company.
In March 2023, shareholders of Dish TV had shot down the appointment of four independent directors, who had come on board in December 2022 after the departure of Jawahar Goel in September last year. This was the first major appointment by the company since Goel’s departure.
In December, shareholders had also rejected a proposal for adoption of audited standalone and consolidated financial statements for FY21 and FY22 during its annual general meeting.
