In the last 18-24 months, a lot of dispute has been seen between the current management of Religare and the Burman family. Amidst this dispute, very serious and sharp allegations have been made by both the parties regarding violations related to corporate governance. On September 6, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered an FIR against Religare’s executive chairperson Rashmi Saluja and others in a case of fraud and criminal conspiracy.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18, Rashmi Saluja has denied illegally gaining benefits through ESOPs. She also raised the question as to why this issue is being raised at a time when an open offer is being brought by the Burman family to takeover Regilare.
He said that Regilare’s tenure has seen many ups and downs and the allegations against him have no basis. According to the ED FIR filed a few days ago, a person named Vaibhav Gawli filed an FIR against the Burman family and made allegations at the behest of Saluja. According to the ED, Gawli mainly worked at the behest of Rashmi Saluja. It is also alleged that Gawli received Rs 65,000 from Saluja for filing this FIR.
On these allegations, Rashmi Saluja said that this matter is in the court and the Enforcement Directorate is investigating it. Obviously the truth will come out. Saluja said that she had no such intention and she has already spoken in this regard. She said that she has given clarification to the stock exchanges that this matter has nothing to do with her or her employees and she will fully cooperate in finding out the truth.
She clarified that the FIR was filed in November and the open offer came in September and in October the independent directors had discussed all the concerns, so there does not seem to be any conspiracy in this. Saluja said that she has already discussed the important matters and will fully cooperate in the investigation so that the truth can be found out.