IPL 2025: Preity Zinta takes legal action against Punjab Kings co-owners alleged governance violation – OTTPlay

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A legal dispute has erupted within the Punjab Kings IPL franchise, initiated by actress Preity Zinta against co-owners Mohit Burman and Ness Wadia.
Last Updated: 12.47 AM, May 24, 2025
A simmering internal dispute within the ownership of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings has spilt into the courtroom, as actress and businesswoman Preity Zinta has filed a legal suit against fellow co-owners Mohit Burman and Ness Wadia. The legal battle centres on an allegedly unauthorised extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held by the co-owners under KPH Dream Cricket Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Punjab Kings.
The Chandigarh District Court has now served notices to Burman and Wadia, with the first hearing scheduled for May 27, 2025, marking the beginning of a potentially high-profile case involving one of IPL’s most recognised franchises.
Zinta, who holds a 23% stake in the company and is a co-director, has claimed that the EGM was held in violation of the Companies Act, 2013, and secretarial standards mandated for corporate governance in India. According to her petition, the meeting was conducted without proper notice and without the consensus of all directors—a move she claims is illegal and against the Articles of Association of KPH Dream Cricket Pvt Ltd.
Represented by advocate Sangram Singh Saron, Zinta has detailed in her filing that she had objected to the meeting through an official email sent on April 10, but her concerns were allegedly ignored. The meeting went ahead regardless, with decisions taken that she considers unlawful and procedurally improper.

Chairperson dispute and governance breakdown

Central to the dispute is the appointment of Ness Wadia as chairperson for the meeting, which Zinta and another director, Karan Paul, opposed. Citing Principle 5.1 of the Secretarial Standards, which mandates that a chairperson must be elected by consensus if one isn’t pre-designated, Zinta argued that the chairperson should have been either herself or Paul.
When the vote resulted in a deadlock between the four directors, the meeting should have been postponed or restructured. Instead, Wadia and Burman allegedly went ahead, assumed control, and appointed Muneesh Khanna as an additional non-executive director—an action Zinta claims violates the firm’s bylaws.
In her petition, Zinta is asking the court to issue an injunction against Muneesh Khanna, preventing him from functioning as a director until the matter is legally resolved. Furthermore, she has requested a halt on all future meetings conducted without the presence and agreement of both her and Karan Paul.
Her filing reflects broader concerns about transparency and governance within one of India’s premier sports franchises, which has often made headlines more for its boardroom stories than its performance on the pitch.
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