Board is yet to receive interim or final governance review report, has followed due process, says BharatPe

BharatPe Managing Director Ashneer Grover.

The board in all its actions has followed due process in the best interest of the company and is yet to receive an interim of the final governance review report, BharatPe said in a statement criticising the allegations made against board members.

The statement comes after BharatPe Managing Director Ashneer Grover told Moneycontrol in an interaction that the board was arm twisting him into exiting the company.

"We are deeply pained that the integrity of the BharatPe board or individual board members is being questioned time and again through misrepresented facts and baseless allegations. The board in all its actions has followed due process in the best interest of the company," the company said in a statement.

Grover has accused the fintech's CEO Suhail Sameer of siding with the investors to oust him from the company.

While Grover and the company have attempted to strike a conciliatory note in public so far, this is the first time that the differences are so open and obvious, even as there is growing scrutiny on the company's governance and business practices. This also underscores what sources have been saying in the last week, that the board is not keen to have Grover back.

While Grover took a leave of absence till March-end amid backlash regarding his abusive language to a Kotak employee, toxic culture at BharatPe and brash behaviour, his wife Madhuri Jain Grover who headed controls also went on leave last week. BharatPe’s board and external consultants are conducting a forensic investigation into the company’s practices, including accounting, approval processes, expenses, and hiring.

The hostility came barely weeks after Sameer gave him a public vote of confidence, stating that there was "zero chance" that Ashneer would exit the company as he was integral to BharatPe. He had also said then that the idea to take a leave of absence came from Grover which was initially rejected by everyone including himself and the board. However, only after they realised the issue was blown out of proportion, did they accept Grover's suggestion to take a leave of absence.

But Grover contested this, asserting that it was never his idea to go on leave till March-end and he was instead manipulated by Sameer as well as the company's general counsel Sumeet Singh.