A war of words has again broken out between the Burmans and Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL).

The board of REL on Thursday hit out against the Burmans, saying they have shared misleading information in the public domain which is not only far from the truth but can also be described as false claims without evidence.

This came after the Dabur promoters demanded a probe into the allotment of 8 per cent equity of Religare Finvest Ltd (a subsidiary of REL) to REL chairperson Rashmi Saluja via employee stock ownership plans (Esops).

The Burman family, the largest shareholder of REL holding over 21 per cent through various entities, had called the allotment “unfortunate”.

It had said the process “raises a question mark on the management and the independence of the independent directors” of the financial services firm.

Responding to these allegations, the REL board and the independent directors said: “The recent misleading information shared in the public domain by the Burmans is not only far from the truth but can best be described as false claims without evidence. Such misinformation impacts shareholder value and erodes confidence in Indian corporate ethics and must be dealt with immediately with the highest level of urgency.”

They added REL is a professionally managed company governed by the country’s regulators with the deepest of scrutiny.

“We must trust the regulators and the process and allow the company to operate to its full potential,’’ the statement by the board and independent directors said.

Such misleading information disrupts the operations of the company and misleads the stakeholders, impacting the share value of the company, the statement said.

The board observed that any person or persons should refrain from making any such statements without fact-checking.