BharatPe Files Fresh Case Against Ashneer Grover For Making Co’s Confidential Info Public

In a fresh trouble for former BharatPe managing director Ashneer Grover, the fintech unicorn’s parent entity Resilient Innovations has reportedly filed a fresh case in the Delhi High Court seeking an injunction against him for sharing “confidential information” related to the firm.

As per an ET report, the new case on Grover was filed following his post on X (formerly Twitter) where the controversial founder revealed the equity allocation and secondary components undertaken during BharatPe’s Series E funding round, which was led by Tiger Global with participation by Dragoneer Investor group and others. The post has been removed now.

The $370 Mn fundraise valued the fintech major at $2.86 Bn.

As per the publication, the Delhi HC heard the matter on Friday (November 24) where BharatPe’s counsel argued that Grover violated obligations under his employment agreement by putting out such confidential information. 

The counsel also noted that Grover continues to hold confidential information about the company despite his resignation, which is in violation of the firm’s employment agreement.

Responding to it, Grover’s counsel reportedly submitted an apology for tweeting the confidential company information but said his client (Grover) required the information to defend himself against the proceedings instituted against him.

Senior advocate Akhil Sibal represented BharatPe while Grover was represented by Giriraj Subramanium. The matter about Grover’s access to confidential company information will be reportedly heard at the next hearing of the case.

This is not the first time that Grover has been caught in trouble because of his posts about BharatPe. Earlier this year, he deleted some of his tweets against the company following a court directive. 

The fresh case by Resilient Innovations is in addition to the already registered civil suit at the HC against Grover and his family members for alleged embezzlement of funds, seeking up to INR 88.67 Cr in damages.

The BharatPe saga has been ongoing since 2022 and has resulted in several public spats. The fintech unicorn filed a criminal complaint with the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against Grover and his family in December last year.

The EOW registered the first information report (FIR) against the Grovers in May this year which said that Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain paid commissions to ‘bogus HR consultants’ linked to the latter’s family members.

In its investigation into the matter, the EOW recently found fraudulent transactions totalling over INR 81 Cr made by the couple.

The EOW summoned Grover and his wife in connection with the alleged fraud earlier this week, hours after the couple was stopped at the Delhi airport from flying to New York. Grover appeared before the probe agency for questioning on Thursday (November 23).