The battle for control of Religare Enterprises (REL) has started looking like a never-ending soap opera. On Tuesday, Rashmi Saluja, the ousted executive chairperson of REL, made the first move by filing a fresh writ petition in the Delhi High Court, seeking to quash the open offer by the Burman family-led entities. This marks the seventh legal attempt by her to stall the takeover process. The court is expected to hear her petition on Wednesday (today).
Within hours, the REL board wrote a letter to the company secretary, asking him to ensure that Saluja’s “office stands vacated with effect from the date of the annual general meeting, i.e. February 7, 2025.” The letter, signed by director Praveen Kumar Tripathi, claimed it was “for and on behalf of the board of directors” of REL. “As the company secretary, you should ensure compliance with the applicable statutory provisions and make the necessary filings with the relevant authorities, including but not limited to stock exchanges, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and intimation to the Reserve Bank of India,” the letter said.
Over 97% of REL shareholders rejected Saluja’s reappointment as the chairperson and director at the AGM last week, though she had sought to stop discussions on that agenda. In her latest plea filed before the court, Saluja has sought to quash the open offer process initiated by the Burmans and to nullify the comments made by Sebi in its letter regarding the open offer.
Saluja alleged that Sebi has “failed to discharge its responsibilities as a regulator” and has “failed to enforce the order passed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)” on December 9, 2024. The RBI order imposed certain conditions on the Burmans’ open offer. The RBI had directed Burmans to consolidate all NBFCs under their control by March 2026. Saluja claimed the Burmans’ letter of offer (January 18) omitted these critical conditions, misleading shareholders. However, the petition notably excludes the RBI as a respondent.
“The proposed acquirers’ approach suggests a deliberate attempt to exploit regulatory loopholes by arguing that conditional approval itself is sufficient to proceed with the open offer. This is a clear attempt to manipulate the process, as the conditional approval is not final unless all stipulated conditions are met. Allowing this would set a precedent where entities can ignore regulatory conditions without consequences,” the petition stated.
The Burman Group — through entities Puran Associates, VIC Enterprises, MB Finmart and Milky Investment — has been locked in a bitter battle with Saluja since announcing an open offer in September 2023 to acquire a 26% stake in REL at `235 per share. The open offer is supposed to end on Wednesday as per a Supreme Court directive.
Meanwhile, US-based investor Digvijay “Danny” Gaekwad has sought a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be in the US this week, to seek an “open and fair” opportunity to acquire REL. Gaekwad, a Republican, is also planning to rope in the US government to help clear his way for the acquisition.
“I have no choice left but to place my case to the American lawmakers so as to get fair and equitable treatment from the Indian authorities. I am going to raise these questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi also during his visit to the US. I will apprise him how US investors are treated,” Gaekwad said late Sunday evening from Florida in an interview to Fortune India.
The Supreme Court had directed Gaekwad to deposit Rs 600 crore in terms of his competing offer against the Burmans’ open offer on or before February 12, failing which the order will be set aside. There is no clarity yet whether Gaekwad will meet the deadline.