Mumbai: In a significant legal development, the Mumbai Police have filed a case against three senior officials of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) including Dr. Rashmi Saluja, its executive chairperson, and two others, for allegedly conspiring to obstruct a takeover bid by the Burman family.
The case was filed based on a complaint from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and involves criminal conspiracy and cheating charges. The accused include REL’s group chief financial officer Nitin Aggarwal, president and general counsel Nishant Singhal, and private individual Vaibhav Gawali, who was initially a complainant.
The controversy began with a November 2023 FIR, which alleged misappropriation of REL’s assets by former directors and the Burman family. The ED’s investigation into this FIR uncovered allegations that the REL executives paid Gawali ₹2 lakh to buy 500 REL shares and an additional ₹80,000 to file the complaint against the Burman family.
According to the ED, this action was allegedly intended to prevent the Burmans from gaining control of REL and to protect the executives’ Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) shares, which are valued at approximately ₹179.54 crore. On August 21, 2024, the ED conducted searches and froze shares of Care Health Insurance Limited (CHIL) held by Saluja, Aggarwal, and Singhal.
Gawali’s complaint was initially based on a decline in REL’s share price after his purchase, leading him to allege misconduct by the former directors and the Burman family. However, the ED’s investigation revealed that the complaint might have been manipulated by the REL officials to obstruct the Burmans’ takeover. Gawali claimed that the details of the complaint were prepared by Saluja and that he was directed to seek legal advice if the initial complaint was not accepted by the police.
The ED’s complaint asserts that the FIR was motivated by the executives’ desire to block the takeover and maintain their benefits, including stock options. The preliminary findings suggest that the November FIR was filed based on concerns about the takeover and the potential loss of benefits, rather than substantive evidence of wrongdoing.
The case is ongoing, and REL has denied any connection between the seized shares and the alleged offenses.
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