Delhi High Court refuses to stay investigation against Ashneer Grover

Ashneer Grover

The Delhi High Court on June 1 refused to stay the investigation against Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain in a complaint by BharatPe alleging misappropriation of funds and causing a loss of over Rs 80 crore.

The court, while refusing the stay, noted that no case for staying the investigation has been made out at the present point in time.

In May 2023, Economic Offences Wing (EOW)  filed a first information report against BharatPe's embattled co-founder & former managing director Ashneer Grover, his wife Madhuri Grover, and two other family members. The FIR was registered on 8 counts of serious cognizable criminal offences. If convicted, Grover, Madhuri and others can face up to anything between 10 years to life imprisonment. EOW now has the power to arrest all the accused.

Also read: Ashneer Grover deletes social media posts against BharatPe, says he wants to 'get out of the gutter'

The company has also sought up to Rs 88 crore in damages from the Grovers and other family members through a civil suit. BharatPe alleges that the Grover family created fake bills, enlisted fictitious vendors to provide services to the company, and overcharged the company for recruitment.

In addition to the accusations around dubious transactions and fake vendors, the company alleged in its pleading that Grover contributed nothing to the BharatPe technology or concept. It said that his association with the company began in 2018 when he made a ‘paltry’ investment of Rs 31,920, for which he received 3,192 shares.

Since the beginning of 2022, the four-year-old company has been embroiled in controversy after its founder was accused of using inappropriate language and threatening a Kotak Group employee for failing to secure an allotment and funding for the Nykaa IPO for himself and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover.

While Grover took a voluntary leave and later resigned as the company's MD, his wife, former head of controls Madhuri Jain, was fired over allegations of misappropriation of funds.

In February 2022, the SIAC denied Grover's appeal to block an internal investigation on multiple grounds.

In December, BharatPe filed for arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre in order to claw back estranged co-founder Ashneer Grover's restricted shareholding (1.4 percent shareholding) in the company and right to use the founder title. The company has also urged that SIAC award Grover's unvested shares to BharatPe co-founder and board member Shashvat Nakrani for a cash consideration of Rs 33 lakh.