Kedara Capital backs decision made on ESOPs issued to Religare Chairperson

Religare Enterprises on Monday said that Kedaara Capital, the largest shareholder of Care Health Insurance, backed the decision made by the board to issue ESOPs to Religare Chairperson Rashmi Saluja.

The clarification comes amid allegations by the Dabur family, which is trying to obtain a controlling stake in Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), that Saluja allegedly violated IRDAI and Sebi norms.

REL is the promoter of Care Health Insurance and Saluja is chairperson of the insurer as well.

“Kedaara is a proud shareholder of Care Health Insurance. Led by a best-in-class management team and guided by a strong board, the company has always had the highest standards of governance, compliance and operational excellence,” Kedaara Capital Managing Partner Sunish Sharma said in a statement.

“We look forward to continuing to support it as it goes from strength to strength,” it added.

Burman family — the promoters of Dabur — has filed a complaint with regulatory authorities seeking a probe into the sale of shares by Religare Enterprises Ltd’s Chairman Rashmi Saluja.

As per the complaint, Saluja sold her share in REL immediately after the Burman family disclosed to her that they intended to make an open offer for the financial services firm.

Entities controlled by the Burman family — promoters of FMCG major Dabur — have written to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and stock exchanges that Saluja sold a portion of her personal holdings in Religare Enterprises Ltd a day after meeting a representative of the Burmans on September 20.

The Religare board negates the allegations faced by Saluja, REL said in a statement last week.

“The accusations fail to diminish Saluja’s contribution but rather reflect a society’s failure in treading past its gender biases. Previous instances of other leading Indian women have shown similar patterns of fall from grace due to conspiracies sprouted from a deep-rooted societal patriarchal nature,” it had said.

The company stands firmly behind Saluja as she has shown remarkable resilience in the face of these allegations, refusing to bow down to unfair practices spurred by gender-based discrimination, the board had said in the statement.