Zee Group founder and Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra has accused Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and his media network of orchestrating a "fake news campaign" against him concerning his personal insolvency petition in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). In a video message on Zee News on Friday, Chandra refuted the story in relation to the famous Rs 22,000-crore debt that he said "does not apply to the group."
The Zee chief said that the NCLT case was regarding the personal guarantee that he had given to the lenders for the loan availed by some group companies, not the personal debt of Rs 22,000 crore.
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Chandra said that the true value of the debts that Essel Group owed amounted to only Rs 3,900 crore.
He added that about Rs 620 crore of claims related to borrowing entities had already been paid back, with a proposal to pay about Rs 1,100 crore to certain lenders lying pending.
Chandra said that despite approaching Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani directly, his media house continued to publish "fake and wrong news" about him.
He said that he had called Ambani and also sent him a letter regarding the concerns, but has yet to get a response.
Addressing Ambani directly, Chandra asked him to take action and stop the "campaign against me and the Essel Group."
"Zee is a Group company. I do not own anything in that. In fact, I do not own anything now after implementing this NCLT order," Chandra said.
He added that the Essel Group and his family had taken steps to reduce their financial liabilities significantly after its troubles in 2019.
Chandra said that the group had owed about Rs 45,000 crore before the implementation of the NCLT order, of which he said about Rs 43,000 crore had been repaid in cash through the sale of its assets.
Chandra urged the banking system and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to set up an independent auditor to verify the borrowings, repayment, and defaults of the Essel Group.
The NCLT order that has triggered the debate between Chandra and Ambani approved a repayment plan submitted by Chandra in his personal insolvency.
As per the approved resolution, Rs 6.5 crore will be given to the creditors against the admitted claim of Rs 22,006.57 crore. This amounts to a mere 0.03% of the total admitted debt.
Chandra's personal guarantees for loans taken by his associated companies are at the centre of the case. The case was triggered when Indiabulls Housing Finance (now Samaam Capital) approached the NCLT against the personal guarantee of Chandra for a loan of approximately Rs 170 crore to Vivek Infracon, which defaulted.
