The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named senior advocate Pratap Venugopal as an accused in its chargesheet related to the Religare Enterprises money laundering case. The chargesheet, filed before a special court in Mumbai, also names former Religare chairperson Rashmi Saluja, among others.

This development comes after the ED had initially issued summons to Venugopal in June, which were later withdrawn following protests from various bar associations. At the time, the summons was related to a money laundering probe against Saluja concerning a controversial Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) granted by Care Health Insurance (CHIL), a subsidiary of Religare.

The ED alleges that Venugopal, along with Saluja and other former executives, were involved in a conspiracy regarding the illegal allotment of ESOPs of CHIL. The agency contends that Saluja was the "principal architect" of the conspiracy, working in collusion with Nitin Aggarwal, Nishant Singhal, Pratap Venugopal, and Vaibhav Gawli to illegally acquire equity in CHIL through the ESOPs. The ED has labeled the acquired ESOPs as "proceeds of crime," asserting that the scheme aimed to gain control of the company while circumventing regulatory mechanisms.

Specifically, the ED's investigation suggests that Venugopal, who was a retainer for Religare at the time, provided legal counsel on how to overturn the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India's (IRDAI) rejection of the ESOP allotment. In return for his services, he was allegedly offered an independent director position at CHIL and a remuneration of ₹60 lakh.

IRDAI had previously directed CHIL to revoke or cancel any allotted ESOPs and imposed a penalty of ₹1 crore on CHIL for non-compliance with regulatory directives. The agency alleges that 2.2 crore ESOPs were allotted to Saluja at an undervalued price of ₹45.3 per share when the actual share price was ₹110.

In response to being named in the chargesheet, Venugopal has declined to comment.

This case unfolds amidst an ongoing corporate battle between the Burman family, a major shareholder in REL, and the former management led by Saluja. Saluja had previously approached the Delhi High Court in December 2024 seeking to block a resolution proposing her replacement as director, arguing violations of the Companies Act, 2013, and a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directive.

The Delhi High Court has also sought a response from the ED on petitions filed by Saluja, Nishant Singhal, and Chirag Jain, seeking relief, including the quashing of the criminal case. These petitions allege harassment and accuse rivals of instigating the investigation. Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi argued that the ED's freezing of Saluja's demat account shares was unlawful, as it was done without establishing that the shares were proceeds of crime.

The ED's investigation was initiated following a complaint filed in November of last year, alleging that the accused were siphoning off money from Religare Enterprises.