‘FIRs false and baseless to block Religare deal’

livemint.com:

Dabur group on Tuesday refuted the allegations of being involved in the Mahadev online betting app scam after members of the promoter family were named in two first information reports (FIR) filed within a week in Mumbai. A group spokesperson said the FIRs were “false and baseless", and part of an attempt to block the acquisition of Religare Enterprises Ltd. The first FIR, filed on 7 November, alleged that the Burmans, who co-own the IPL team Punjab Kings, are part of a cricket betting racket.

It named 32 people, including the Dubai-based promoters of the Mahadev betting app, Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. In the second and most recent FIR, filed on 11 November, a shareholder of Religare Enterprises Ltd, Vaibhav Gawali, has charged the Burmans with cheating and criminal conspiracy. Gawali complained that 14 persons, including Mohit Burman, chairman of the Dabur Group, Vivekchand Burman and Anandchand Burman, had shifted the assets of Religare Enterprises to its subsidiaries which had put the shareholders’ investment at risk.

This FIR comes in the middle of a pitched battle between the Burmans and the Religare board. The Dabur promoters, who currently own 21.25% in Religare, announced an open offer on 25 September to take control of the company. The board of Religare, which initially had welcomed the move, later commissioned an independent valuation report.

Some independent directors are also said to have written to Sebi, the Reserve Bank of India and the insurance regulator alleging fraud and market manipulation by the Burmans, a charge which the latter has rejected. The Burmans, in turn, have accused Religare chairperson Rashmi Saluja of insider trading, which she has denied. The FIR is “a step provoked by vested