Mumbai Police files charge sheet against ex-Religare chair Rashmi Saluja, 3 others in ESOP case

Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Monday filed a charge sheet against former Religare Enterprises chairperson Rashmi Saluja and three others in connection with alleged irregularities in the allotment of employee stock options (ESOP) at Care Health Insurance Ltd.

A dispute over the ESOP allotment to Saluja at the insurance subsidiary had escalated into a legal battle between Religare's then management and the Burmans who were pursuing to take over the financial services company.

The charge sheet filed at a local magistrate's court names Saluja, former Religare finance chief Nitin Aggarwal, ex-group general counsel Nishant Singhal and a Mumbai-based office assistant, Vaibhav Gawli. The EOW investigated the matter after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September last year filed a complaint alleging that Saluja and her colleagues conspired to derail the takeover bid for Religare by misusing ESOP allotments and orchestrating a police complaint filed by the office assistant. Gawli was allegedly promised cash and shares in return.


Saluja, who has challenged the EOW’s FIR in the Bombay High Court, on Monday called the allegations “mala fide and flawed”. She told ET: “When I have never met Gawli or ever communicated with him, how could I get him to lodge a complaint against the Burmans? Also, how could ESOPs be treated as proceeds of crime? They were issued by the board and NRC (nomination & remuneration committee)…why aren’t they being questioned?”


According to investigators, the insurance regulator had rejected Care Health’s proposal to issue 22.71 million stock options, valued at more than ₹250 crore, to Saluja. Still, the company’s board in August 2022 granted the ESOPs to her at ₹45.32 per share, to be vested in three tranches. In the same meeting, the board also cleared a ₹300 crore rights issue.

The insurance regulator in November 2023 ruled that the ESOPs were granted in violation of sectoral guidelines that cap non-executive director compensation at ₹10 lakh without prior approval. It ordered cancellation of unvested and unexercised stock options and directed the company to repurchase 7.57 million shares already issued to Saluja at the exercise price.

The Burmans, who are also promoters of consumer goods company Dabur, claimed that this allotment was done illegally and would hurt their takeover bid by increasing the cost. After a prolonged takeover battle, the Burmans took control of Religare in February this year.

The EOW has clubbed two complaints—Gawli’s allegations of misrepresentation in the Burmans’ open offer to Religare shareholders in September 2023 and the ED’s case against Saluja and others—for investigation. The ED is pursuing a separate money laundering probe and has searched multiple premises and questioned Saluja and some other executives.

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On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 11:13 PM Anil Kumar <getanil@gmail.com> wrote:

Mumbai Police Charges Former Religare Chairperson Saluja, 3 Others in ESOP Case

Rashmi Rajput

Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Monday filed a charge sheet against former Religare Enterprises chairperson Rashmi Saluja and three others in connection with alleged irregularities in the allotment of employee stock options (ESOP) at Care Health Insurance Ltd.

A dispute over the ESOP allotment to Saluja at the insurance subsidiary had escalated into a legal battle between Religare's then management and the Burmans who were pursuing to take over the financial services company.

The charge sheet filed at a local magistrate's court names Saluja, former Religare finance chief Nitin Aggarwal, ex-group general counsel Nishant Singhal and a Mumbai-based office assistant, Vaibhav Gawli. The EOW investigated the matter after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September last year filed a complaint alleging that Saluja and her colleagues conspired to derail the takeover bid for Religare by misusing ESOP allotments and orchestrating a police complaint filed by the office assistant. Gawli was allegedly promised cash and shares in return.

Saluja in her challenge to the EOW’s FIR before the Bombay High Court had called the allegations “mala fide and flawed”. On Monday, she told ET: “When I have never met Gawli or ever communicated with him, how could I get him to lodge a complaint against the Burmans? Also, how could ESOPs be treated as proceeds of crime? They were issued by the board and NRC (nomination & remuneration committee)…why aren’t they being questioned?”

According to investigators, the insurance regulator had rejected Care Health’s proposal to issue 22.71 million stock options, valued at more than ₹250 crore, to Saluja. Still, the company’s board in August 2022 granted the ESOPs to her at ₹45.32 per share, to be vested in three tranches. In the same meeting, the board also cleared a ₹300 crore rights issue.

The insurance regulator in November 2023 ruled that the ESOPs were granted in violation of sectoral guidelines that cap non-executive director compensation at ₹10 lakh without prior approval. It ordered cancellation of unvested and unexercised stock options and directed the company to repurchase 7.57 million shares already issued to Saluja at the exercise price.

The Burmans, who are also promoters of consumer goods company Dabur, claimed that this allotment was done illegally and would hurt their takeover bid by increasing the cost. After a prolonged takeover battle, the Burmans took control of Religare in February this year.

The EOW has clubbed two complaints—Gawli’s allegations of misrepresentation in the Burmans’ open offer to Religare shareholders in September 2023 and the ED’s case against Saluja and others—for investigation. The ED is pursuing a separate money laundering probe and has searched multiple premises and questioned Saluja and some other executives.