SEBI v. Pankaj Sharma (settlement, Religare Finvest director, 2022)
Settled
Checked against the primary document on October 9, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, in a single reading of the order; an independent second reading of 60 SEBI records agreed on every field for 56, the four misses being penalty amounts; a later sample of 50 of the SEBI records added on 9 October agreed on every field for 46. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.
In May 2022 SEBI accepted a settlement payment of Rs 44,20,000 from Pankaj Sharma, a director of Religare Finvest, who neither admitted nor denied allegations that he failed to exercise due diligence over loans in a Rs 2,473.66 crore fund diversion. The settlement disposes of the adjudication proceedings against him.
The record
| Agency | SEBI (India) |
|---|---|
| Date filed | 2022-05-31 |
| Date resolved | 2022-05-31 |
| Status | settled |
| Asset class | equities |
| Instruments | Religare Enterprises Ltd. shares |
| Criminal parallel | No |
| Defendants | Pankaj Sharma |
| Techniques |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- —
- Disgorgement
- —
- Prejudgment interest
- —
- Total relief
- —
- Alleged gain
- —
- Penalty as published
- 4.4m INR
What is alleged to have happened
This is a settlement order of 31 May 2022 issued by an adjudicating officer under section 15JB of the SEBI Act. It concerns Pankaj Sharma, a director of Religare Finvest Ltd., the material subsidiary of the listed company Religare Enterprises Ltd.
SEBI's investigation covered April 2011 to March 2018 and examined alleged mismanagement and diversion of about Rs 2,473.66 crore from the group through the subsidiary to promoters and promoter-connected entities. SEBI alleged that Mr Sharma, along with others who approved loans, did not carry out adequate due diligence or use independent judgment on the subsidiary's loans and investments, and so breached section 12A of the SEBI Act and Regulations 3(b) to (d) and 4(1) of the PFUTP Regulations.
Mr Sharma applied to settle without admitting or denying the findings. An advisory committee recommended settlement on payment of Rs 44,20,000 in April 2022; the Panel of Whole Time Members approved it, and he paid the amount on 11 May 2022. The adjudication proceedings under the show cause notice of February 2021 were disposed of on that basis.
The order carries the usual reservation that SEBI may restore proceedings if his representations prove untrue or he breaches his undertakings. It states no findings and orders no market restriction.
The record does not show his actual role in approving specific loans, whether other directors settled or were penalised in separate orders, or any related criminal case. The allegations were never adjudicated.
This library tags the matter as no specific technique, because the allegation concerns lax oversight of loans in a fund-diversion scheme. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's.
For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the order.
Timeline
- 2022-05-31 SEBI settlement order (31 May 2022)
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.