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The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT)has dismissed IDBI Bank's plea seeking insolvency proceedings against Zee Entertainment.  The NCLAT upheld the earlier order by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which rejected IDBI's plea against the media company.

In an official communication addressed to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), ZEEL confirmed that the appellate tribunal upheld the NCLT's order.

The development follows ZEEL's earlier disclosure on August 1, 2023, in compliance with Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. In that filing, the company had informed stakeholders of the ongoing legal proceedings initiated by IDBI Bank.

“We are pleased to inform that the NCLAT has upheld the order passed by NCLT, thereby dismissing the appeal by IDBI Bank,” the statement from ZEEL read.

The appellate tribunal has also granted IDBI Bank the liberty to file a fresh plea against Zee Entertainment for defaults beyond the Covid moratorium period. IDBI Bank had sought insolvency proceedings against Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) to recover dues of ₹149.60 crore.

IDBI Bank, in its petition, claimed that Zee agreed to secure loans extended to Siti Networks through a Debt Service Reserve Account (DSRA) Guarantee. The lender says Siti Networks had to maintain the DSRA. It alleged that Zee submitted a guarantee and was responsible for any shortfalls in the DSRA. It adds that the media firm was informed about the shortfalls.

Zee opposed the lender’s plea and sought its dismissal. It also opposed the issuance of a notice. Earlier in May 2023, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT had dismissed the bank’s insolvency plea against Zee.

No insolvency for Zee: IDBI’s plea dismissed by Appellate Tribunal

Vadilal Industries Limited is undergoing a significant transformation following a family agreement among its promoters, which will lead to a major restructuring of the company’s management and board. The longstanding dispute over control of the family business has been between three key figures: Virendra Ramchandra Gandhi (VRG), Rajesh Ramchandra Gandhi (RRG), and Devanshu Laxmanbhai Gandhi (DLG).

On March 29, 2025, Vadilal Industries received a letter from its key promoters—Rajesh R. Gandhi, Janmajay V. Gandhi, and Devanshu L. Gandhi—outlining the terms of a memorandum of family arrangement. The company clarified that while it acknowledged the agreement, it was not a direct party to it.

The company informed the regulators that, "The fourth generation of the Gandhi family have, in the past, harboured diverse interests, different ambitions and varying perceptions as to, inter alia, the strategic direction, growth and governance of the Vadilal group. While the family is still united under the respective family branches, due to uneven growth, differing perceptions, expectations and including matters related to the strategic direction, growth and governance of the Vadilal group, various disputes and differences have arisen amongst the Gandhi Family Members, inter alia in relation to the affairs of various group entities including the company." 

"The Gandhi Family Members are now desirous of settling their inter-se disputes by restructuring the management of the Company to maintain equality of interests and separating the ownership from the management of the Company to maximize shareholder value and achieve greater heights."

The Gandhi family members have entered into this agreement to settle internal disputes and restructure the company’s management.  The primary objectives of this restructuring are to maintain equality of interests among promoters, maximize shareholder value, and establish a more robust corporate governance framework by appointing independent professional management.

A key component of the agreement involves securing the “Vadilal” brand within the company. Currently, the brand is used under a non-exclusive license from a promoter group entity. To achieve this, certain promoter-owned companies will be merged into Vadilal Industries, thereby transferring brand ownership to the company. 

In line with the family agreement, the Vadilal Industries board of directors met on March 29, 2025, and approved several key actions, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals:

Amendment of Articles of Association: The board approved amending the company's articles of association to incorporate the terms of the family agreement.  This is contingent upon the disposal or withdrawal of certain appeals and petitions before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). 

The board approved a composite scheme of amalgamation to merge promoter/promoter group entities with Vadilal Industries.  This includes the merger of Vadilal Finance Company Private Limited (VFCPL), Veronica Constructions Private Limited (VCPL) and Vadilal International Private Limited (VIPL).

This merger is subject to approvals from shareholders, creditors, and regulatory bodies, including stock exchanges, SEBI, and the NCLT.

Further the board approved restructuring subject to shareholder approval and the resolution of ongoing litigation, the board approved resignations of Kalpit R. Gandhi as Chief Financial Officer and non-executive non-independent director, Rajesh R. Gandhi and Devanshu L. Gandhi from their positions as Managing Directors, Deval D. Gandhi as a non-executive non-independent director.
    
Change in terms of appointment of Rajesh R. Gandhi and Devanshu L. Gandhi as executive directors and appointments of Janmajay V. Gandhi as an executive director, Gaurav Marathe as a non-executive non-independent director, Shalini Raghavan, Mr. Shivakumar Dega, and Mr. Nagarajan Sivaramakrishnan as independent directors and Rajesh Pandya as an additional non-executive non-independent director, effective from March 29, 2025, until the resolution of litigation.

The restructuring follows a series of legal battles within the Gandhi family. On July 10, 2024, the NCLT partially upheld a petition filed by Virendra R. Gandhi against Vadilal Industries, Rajesh R. Gandhi, Devanshu Gandhi, and others, citing allegations of oppression and mismanagement under Sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act, 2013.

As part of its ruling, the NCLT declared a board resolution that had authorized Virendra R. Gandhi’s retirement from Vadilal Industries and Vadilal Enterprises Limited as "null and void." The tribunal also ordered the division of Vadilal’s family businesses among the three factions—VRG, RRG, and DLG—under the supervision of a court-appointed commissioner.

This decision was subsequently challenged before the NCLAT. In September 2024, the appellate tribunal issued a ruling on a petition filed by Rajesh R. Gandhi, who sought to maintain the status quo of the board’s composition at Vadilal Industries and Vadilal Enterprises, as it stood prior to the NCLT’s judgment.

Breaking: Gandhi family ends feud, restructures and merges Vadilal empire

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday stayed the order of Competition Commission of India (CCI) which had directed WhatsApp to not share data collected on its platforms with Meta company or its products for five years.

NCLAT noted that WhatsApp is free of cost and that a five-year year ban on WhatsApp from sharing user data with Meta may lead to collapse of the business model. NCLAT admitted the matter, after hearing the preliminary submission from both parties on January 16.

NCLAT coram of Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Arun Baroka remarked, "Ban of 5 years may lead to the collapse of business model of WhatsApp LLC since the platform is free. We are of the view that ban of 5 years need to be stayed." 

Commenting on the development, Murugavel Janakiraman, CEO & Founder, Matrimony.com says, "The decision of the NCLAT on Meta’s appeal against the ban imposed by the CCI on WhatsApp’s data sharing policies underscores the limitations of the existing ex-post nature of the competition law and highlights the need for ex-ante regulations. Ex-ante rules restricting ‘data usage’ as proposed in the draft Digital Competition Bill can go a long way in preventing large digital platforms/gatekeepers from abusing their dominant position sometimes even to the disadvantage of the end-users."


The CCI had in November 2024 imposed a penalty of ₹213 crore on Meta for WhatsApp’s 2021 Privacy Policy. The competition regulatory body had restrained WhatsApp from sharing user data with Meta for five years. It also had directed WhatsApp and Meta to “cease and desist” all anti-competitive practices.

WhatsApp’s 2021 Privacy Policy allows for user data to be shared with group cos like Meta, Insta without “opt out” option. 

A Meta spokesperson welcomed the NCLAT’s decision and said the firm will evaluate next steps. “Our focus remains on finding a path forward that supports millions of businesses that depend on our platform for growth and innovation as well as providing high-quality experiences that people expect from WhatsApp.”

NCLAT stressed the need to decide the case at an early date, considering the nature of the issues raised in the appeal. "We grant leave to the parties to complete the necessary reading within six weeks from today. Let's list both the appeals for the hearing on 17th March at 2 pm," NCLAT while listing the matter for hearing on March 25.


NCLAT gives relief to Meta, stays CCI order of five-year ban on WhatsApp data sharing

Google's levy of 10-30% service fee on payments for app purchases via its Play Store has proved to be a challenge, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said. This has highlighted that this service fee has crimped app developers' ability to improve service quality and also produce better technology.

The competition watchdog commented this on the concluding day of its arguments at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The parent company of Google (Alphabet inc.) had earlier appealed against the order of CCI.

Back in 2024, The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) resumed its final hearing on Google’s appeal against the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) ₹936 crore penalty on September 10. The tech giant was penalised in October 2022 for allegedly abusing its dominant position through restrictive billing practices on Google Play Store.


