New Delhi, Jan. 28 -- The high-profile battle for control of Religare Enterprises Ltd took a fresh twist on Tuesday with a Bangkok-based investor seeking the Delhi High Court's intervention to halt the Burman family's open offer to acquire an additional 26% stake in the financial services conglomerate.

Sapna Govind Rao, who claims to own 500 shares in Religare, urged the court to instead consider a Rs.5,000-crore competing open offer by Florida-based businessman Digvijay 'Danny' Gaekwad. Mint has reviewed a copy of Rao's urgent application before the court.

Just a few hours after Rao filed the court application, Religare revealed to the stock exchanges that the Securities and Exchange Board of India had returned Gaekwad's proposal since...