Ashneer Grover resigned from BharatPe in March. (file)
New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court today issued summons to former BharatPe MD Ashneer Grover and his wife in a lawsuit filed by the company seeking to restrain them from making defamatory statements against the fintech firm, accusing the couple of money laundering. Allegations of embezzlement were made.
The high court granted two weeks time to Ashneer Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain, the then head of controlling and group president of the company, administration and facilities, and three other relatives to file a reply to the suit and apply for interim relief filed by BharatPe. Gave. and listed the matter for further proceedings in January 2023.
In the suit, the company has also sought a direction to pay over Rs 88.67 crore to the couple and three others, along with interest, to recover the allegedly misappropriated funds and damage the reputation of the firm.
“Pass a permanent injunction restraining the Respondents (Ashner Grover and others) and/or anyone on their behalf from making any defamatory/disparaging statements in relation to the Petitioner (BharatPe), its directors, employees and/or publicity, printing. same in the same medium or form,” the suit said, also seeking a direction to the defendants to disclose their assets.
Ashneer Grover had resigned from the company in March and his wife was removed from her position.
During the hearing, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for BharatPe, argued that Ashneer Grover, his wife and other relatives were running a “malicious and vicious” campaign against the company, which has a large number of foreign investors.
The senior counsel also showed the court several tweets posted by Ashneer Grover and his relatives after he was ousted from the company.
“These are all his family members. He was sacked from the company. We also have a suit for damages,” he said.
The counsel for Ashneer Grover and his wife said they were not given a copy of the case.
As the judge said that an advance copy of the trial should have been given to the defendants, Mukul Rohatgi said that he did not do so, the only reason being that as soon as Ashneer Grover came to know about it, “he would again be furious”. Will be done.” ,
A company spokesperson said, “BharatPe has initiated civil and criminal proceedings against former co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover, former controlling head Madhuri Jain Grover and other related parties in their families for various claims, including misappropriation of company funds.” manipulation is also involved. “We have full faith in the courts and authorities and are confident that justice will be done. Since the matter is sub-judice, we have no further comment to offer at this time,” the spokesperson said.
In the suit, the company has stated that from 2018 to January 2022, the defendants entered into various dubious transactions including misappropriation of the petitioner’s funds for their personal use, resulting in a monetary loss of Rs 83.67 crore.
Apart from Ashneer Grover and his wife, the company has also impleaded as defendants — Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain and Shwetank Jain — who are all relatives of the couple and are employed in various positions in the company.
As an interim relief, the Company directed the Respondents to remove or delete within a period of five days all statements, tweets, social media posts, books, retweets, hashtags, videos, press conferences, interviews and comments made against the Company demanded to give. ,
It also sought liberty to approach social media platforms, media houses, publications and others for removal of such content.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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