Saluja-led Religare suffers setback as shareholders reject two proposals

"The rejection of these resolutions signals that shareholders are closely monitoring the developments within the company," said Shriram Subramanian, founder and MD of proxy advisory firm InGovern Research Services. "It also indicates that shareholders have expressed a lack of confidence in REL's management, despite various assurances given by them."

InGovern had recommended that shareholders of vote against one of the two resolutions proposing an investment in MIC Insurance Web Aggregator, which operates myinsuranceclub.com, on the grounds the business was unrelated. Around 73.88% of the shareholders voted against the resolution, while 26.12% voted in favour.

The other resolution was to amend the Articles of Association aimed to remove specific provisions within the shareholders' agreement dated November 5, 2012, between the company, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and others.

This was opposed by 31.90% of the voting shareholders, while 68.10% supported it. However since this was a special resolution, it needed 75% of the votes in favour to be approved, resulting in this too not going through.

An email sent to Religare on the issue went unanswered. Earlier, a company spokesperson told ET its acquisition of MIC in December 2023 was intended to grow the business of insurance web aggregation.

The Burmans hold around 25% stake in Religare. This is the first public shareholder vote after the Burman family announced the open offer on September 25, 2023. The open offer plan sparked a row between Religare's management led by Saluja and the Burmans, with both sides trading charges. The Burmans have accused the Religare leadership of corporate governance lapses. Religare has accused the Burmans of fraud and other wrongdoing, including colluding with former promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.