BharatPe Sues Founder Ashneer Grover, A First In India’s Startup Ecosystem
The unicorn fintech company BhartPe has filed a criminal complaint against Ashneer Grover, its former MD and co-founder, and his family, claiming up to 88.67 crore in damages for alleged financial fraud and embezzlement.
In the 2,800-page lawsuit, Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain, and other family members are accused of forging bills, hiring phoney vendors to perform services for the business, and overcharging the business for hiring.
The Delhi High Court heard the civil case and the criminal charge, and sent notifications to the Grover family for a response within two weeks. The following hearing will take place on January 9.
The other defendants, including Grover’s brother-in-law, father, and brother, were also sent summonses.
They could spend up to 10 years in prison if proven guilty.
“Pass a decree of permanent injunction restraining the defendants (Grover and others) and/or anyone on their behalf in any manner whatsoever from making defamatory/derogatory statements concerning the plaintiff (BharatPe), its directors, employees and/or publicising, printing the same in any medium or form whatsoever,” the suit said, while also seeking direction to the defendants to disclose their assets.
Senior attorney Mukul Rohatgi spoke on behalf of BharatPe at the court, claiming that Grover, his wife, and other family members were waging a “vicious and caustic” campaign against the firm, which has many foreign investors.
Grover and his wife were not served with a copy of the lawsuit, according to their attorney.
A company spokesperson said, “BharatPe has initiated civil and criminal action against erstwhile co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover, former Head of Controls Madhuri Jain Grover and other connected parties of their family for various claims, including misappropriation of company funds.” “We have full faith in the courts and authorities and are confident that justice will be done. As the matter is sub-judice, we have no further comment to offer at this stage,” the spokesperson said.
The four-year-old business made news earlier this year after Grover was accused of abusing a Kotak Group employee and threatening them after failing to get himself and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover an allocation and finance for the Nykaa IPO.
Following that, BharatPe appointed Alvarez and Marsal, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, and PwC to carry out a corporate governance study and find out whether Grover had engaged in deliberate misconduct.
Jain and Grover were fired as a result, and they left the firm and its board in March.
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