The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to re-examine Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) acquisition of Network18 Media & Investments (NW18) and TV18 Broadcast (TV18) through Independent Media Trust (IMT). RIL is the sole beneficiary of IMT.

The issue is whether Reliance Industries violated the listing norms while taking control of Network18, notes a report in Business Standard.

Two minority investors of Network18, Victor Fernandes and Sangeeta Fernandes, have claimed that Reliance Industries failed to disclose that it had acquired indirect control over NW18 and TV18 through Independent Media Trust (IMT), a trust established in November 22, 2011. The Hindu adds the appellants have alleged that IMT was “established for the exclusive benefit of RIL”.

After SEBI’s ruling that “IMT was not a subsidiary of RIL and therefore RIL was not required to make disclosures under Clause 36 of the Listing Agreement”, the two investors moved SAT.

According to reports, SAT has stated: “In our opinion, Clause 36 of the Listing Agreement mandates that when a listed company acquires indirect control over another listed company either through a Trust or through any other entity, then, such acquisition has to be disclosed to the stock exchanges.”

This is not the first time that the tribunal has asked the capital markets watchdog to conduct a fresh probe into the acquisition. In April 2016, SAT told SEBI to ascertain whether RIL had got control of the two companies without following the Takeover Regulations, The Hindu reported.