Mumbai: The division bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition World Crest Advisors LLP, the promoter group firm of Dish TV India Ltd, asked the court to restrain Yes Bank Ltd from voting at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the company on June 24.
Yes Bank can now vote on the EGM to be held on Friday.
A bench headed by Justices Gautam S Patel and MJ Jamdar said that World Crest has not made any case. The single judge is right in dismissing the ad-interim relief barring Yes Bank and Catalyst trusteeship from voting at the EGM on June 24, the appeal is dismissed.
While passing the order, the court also took into account the decision of the Supreme Court of PTC India Financial Services. Primarily, Dish TV argued, the SC ruled that the lender or the pledgee does not own the shares and cannot exercise the rights after the pledged shares are enforced.
World Crest fully relied on this decision while arguing before the High Court. Adding that YES BANK LTD is not a party to the pledged agreement, it is also not a beneficial owner or nominee. Thus, there is no legal status for voting at the EGM.
However, the Court held that since World Crest was in default of debt and could not encash the securities, even Yes Bank had no way of selling those shares. Therefore, such arguments did not meet the principles justified in law. “The lengthy arguments made by World Crest fall remarkably short on similar principles,” Justice Patel said.
On June 17, a bench headed by Justice AK Menon upheld Dish TV’s requests for an ad-interim injunction restraining Catalyst Trusteeship Ltd and Yes Bank from participating in and/or exercising any rights, including the right to vote at the EGM. Promoters rejected. In addition, the promoters of the company prayed that they may exercise their franchise on the pledged shares.
After this, this order of the single judge was challenged by Dish TV on Monday.
The legal battle between Yes Bank and Dish TV began in January after the Bombay High Court sought to bar Yes Bank from voting at the EGM.
Essentially, Yes Bank has sought an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of shareholders to oust Jawahar Goel, promoter and managing director of the service provider along with four other directors and reconstitution of the board, citing corporate governance lapses. demanded.
Further, the application was made in response to Dish TV’s notice issued on May 25, seeking reappointment of its Managing Director, Jawahar Goyal, for the term of April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2025.