Burman vs Religare: Sebi kicks off probe

Regulator seeks info from both sides on meetings, open offer

- Anirudh Laskar

The battle for Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) has taken a new turn, with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) beginning an inquiry into a sale of shares by chairperson Rashmi Saluja immediately before the Burman family announced an open offer for the financial services conglomerate.

The Burmans, who lead consumer goods company Dabur Ltd, have called it an insider trade and sought regulatory action. REL has said the sale was planned earlier.

In a 20 December letter, the regulator sought wide-ranging information from both REL and the Burman entities on all events leading up to the open offer and after. Mint has seen a copy of the letter.

The Sebi letter said it is investigating a case related to the "corporate announcement" dated 25 September, the date JM Financial Ltd announced the REL open offer on behalf of the Burman family.

The regulator has asked REL and the Burman family to respond with evidence about the details of events and discussions related to the proposed open offer between January and December 2023.

In its letter, Sebi has asked for "complete details of all the persons involved (from both Burman group side and REL side) in the discussion such as their complete names, their PANS, their personal and official mobile and landline numbers, emails addresses, bank account details, residential addresses during last 3 years.

Same details also to be provided for their immediate relatives including spouse, children, parents, brother/ sisters and their spouses (even if PANs are not available, their names to provided) as per SEBI (PIT) Regulations." PIT refers to Sebi's Prohibition of Insider Trading rules.

Emails sent to Saluja, the Burman family and Sebi remained unanswered.