Saluja ceases to be Religare director

Independent director named chairperson

- KHUSHBOO TIWARI & DEV CHATTERJEE

Praveen Kumar Tripathi, a non-executive independent director on the board of Religare Enterprises, was appointed chairperson of the financial services company till June-end as Rashmi Saluja ceased to be a director on the board effective Thursday, the company announced in separate statements to the stock exchanges.

Saluja's exit follows a clarification from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) confirming that its approval is not required for her removal, the company said in an exchange filing. After Saluja was voted out by the shareholders last week in the company's annual general meeting (AGM), Religare had sought the RBI's guidance on whether its permission was needed, given that the company is a listed non-banking financial firm.

"The company had requested clarification from the RBI regarding the applicability of the regulation, specifically whether prior permission was required in this case," the company said.