RASHMI SALUJA Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These writ petitions have been filed by Dr. Rashmi Saluja who was the Executive Chairman and Key Managerial Person of Religare Enterprises Limited (in short, REL). She is aggrieved by the registration of a First Information Report (in short, FIR) on 6/9/2024 vide FIR No.355 of 2024. This FIR is under challenge in Criminal Writ Petition No. 2538 of 2025. As a sequitur to this, the petitioner is seeking quashing of ECIR/MBZO-I/27/2024 registered by the Directorate of Enforcement (in short, ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (in short, PMLA) in Criminal Writ Petition No. 2254 of 2025.

(2.) A crime was registered at the Matunga Police Station on 11/11/2023 on the basis of a complaint filed by Vaibhav Jalinder Gawali. In this First Information Report vide FIR No.483 of 2023, the complainant who is a public shareholder of the REL stated that the former directors of the REL, namely, Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivender Mohan Singh connived with Burman family and M/s. J. M. Financial to take full control of the REL by increasing their shareholdings upto 51%. He made allegations against the former directors of the REL and directors of M/s. M.B. Fin Mart Pvt. Ltd., M/s. Puran Associate Pvt. Ltd., M/s. VIC Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. and M/s. Milky Investment and Trading Company in which Mohit Burman, Vivekchand Burman, Monica Burman, Abhaykumar Agarawal, Anandchand Burman, Mini Burman etc. were directors. It is stated that several Corporate entities held by the Burman group defrauded the shareholders of REL causing unlawful losses to them and attempted to gain control of the REL. The accused persons in a systematic conspiracy with fraudulent intention hatched a plan to write-off recoverable claims by the REL and engineered the Open Offer for acquisition of 9,00,42,541 fully paid-up equity shares which was equivalent to 26% of the Expanded Voter Share Capital of the REL. He referred to the FIR No.50 of 2019 dtd. 27/3/2019 which was lodged with the Delhi Police on the allegations of the commission of offence under Sec. 409, 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code against Shivender Mohan Singh, Malvinder Mohan Singh and others who were the directors and promoters of the REL. This is the allegationagainst them in that First Information Report that various unsecured loans to the tune of Rs.2397.00 crores were given by them to the shell companies associated with them which willfully defaulted on repayment of the loan amount. He further stated that a draft Open Offer Letter dtd. 11/10/2023 was issued by the Acquiring companies making false, fraudulent and dishonest representations and, that, the projections made by the Acquiring Companies in the Open Offer Letter were patently illegal and dishonest.

(3.) It was on the basis of the materials collected in course of the investigation in the FIR No. 483 of 2023 and the information supplied to the ED that ECIR/MBZO-I/24/2024 was registered by the ED and a search and seizure operation was conducted by the ED at the petitioner's premises and an order under Sec. 17(1A) of the PMLA was issued for freezing the Employee Stock Ownership (in short, "ESOP") shares in the Demat account of the petitioner. The inquiry conducted by the ED in this ECIR revealed that the FIR No.483 of 2023 was lodged at the behest of the petitioner. The petitioner provided Rs.2.00 lakh in cash to the complainant who purchased 500 shares of the REL and thus became its shareholder and lodged the First Information Report. The ED supplied these informations to the police and a First Information Report vide FIR No.355 of 2024 was lodged against the petitioner.