Justice Navin Chawla granted the Grovers two weeks to respond to BharatPe’s plea in the BharatPe case against them. January 9, 2023, has been set aside for the subject.
Ashneer Grover and BharatPe are at odds, and the Delhi High Court has served notice and summons on Ashneer Grover, the ousted co-founder of fintech unicorn BharatPe and a well-known television personality, as well as his wife Madhuri Jain Grover and other family members, to stop them from making disparaging remarks about the fintech company. Additionally, summonses were sent to Grover’s brother, father, and brother-in-law. The Grovers were given two weeks by Justice Navin Chawla to respond to BharatPe’s suit. January 9, 2023, has been set aside for the subject.
The change happened after BharatPe sued Grover and his family for their disparaging remarks about the unicorn. In the 2,800-page lawsuit, Grover, his wife, and other family members were accused of forging bills, hiring phony suppliers to perform services for the business, and overcharging the business for hiring. BharatPe claimed damages totaling over Rs 88.67 crore against Grover, his wife, and his brother.
Included in the damages are claims for payment of Rs 71.7 crore against invoices from nonexistent vendors, Rs 1.66 crore in penalties paid to the GST authorities, Rs 7.6 crore in payments to vendors for allegedly providing recruitment services, and Rs 5 crore in losses for the company’s reputation as a result of Grover and his family members’ comments and tweets.
During the court, Grover, his wife, and other family members were accused of waging a “vicious and venomous” campaign against the business, according to a prominent attorney and former attorney general of India Mukul Rohatgi, who was representing BharatPe. According to news agency PTI, Grover and his wife’s attorney said they never received a copy of the lawsuit.
In addition, BharatPe has requested the following: disclosure of Grover and his family’s assets; an interim injunction against the defendants prohibiting them from making defamatory statements about BharatPe, its directors, or employees and/or publicizing the same; a directive to the Grovers to delete or remove all negative content about the company within five days; and orders to BharatPe to contact social media platforms, media outlets, publications, websites, and blogs.
In addition to the suit with the Delhi High Court, BharatPe has filed a separate complaint with the Economic Offences Wing against the erratic television personality, his wife, and other family members, charging them with 17 counts of fraud. The Grovers are accused of theft, fraud, theft by deception, embezzlement, and siphoning of funds.
A firm representative commented on the legal dispute involving the Grovers and BharatPe, saying, “We have complete faith in the courts and authorities and are convinced that justice will be served. As the case is still pending, we are at a loss for words at this time.
BharatPe is no stranger to controversy; earlier this year, the company made headlines after it was claimed that an audio clip of Ashneer Grover allegedly using inappropriate language and threatening a Kotak Group employee for failing to get him and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover an allocation and funding for the Nykaa IPO went viral.
In order to determine if the Grovers had engaged in wilful misconduct, the fintech unicorn later hired Alvarez and Marsal, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, and PwC to perform a corporate governance review.
As a result of the alleged theft of business cash, Madhuri Jain Grover was later fired from the company and its board. After that, Ashneer resigned from the board of the business and lost the status of co-founder due to allegations of “massive theft of company finances” by “creating phony vendors” to steal money. Grover and his wife have also been charged by the business with using “company expense accounts” to “enrich themselves and fund their luxurious lives.”
The business made the decision to discipline dishonest personnel in May of this year, as well as to reduce Ashneer Grover’s restricted shares.
