BharatPe FIR: Delhi HC Refuses To Stay Probe Against Ashneer Grover, Madhuri Jain Grover

SUMMARY

Ashneer and Madhuri Grover had filed a petition requesting the court to quash the FIR filed on a complaint by BharatPe

The court said no case is made out for staying the investigation at this stage and the couple have other legal remedies available

In the FIR filed by the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing, the fintech unicorn has accused the Grover couple of committing fraud of INR 81 Cr

The Delhi High Court on Thursday (June 1) refused to stay the investigation against Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover on a FIR registered by the Delhi Police based on a complaint by BharatPe.

The couple had filed a petition requesting the HC to quash the FIR filed on the complaint of fintech unicorn BharatPe with Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EoW), alleging a fraud of INR 81 Cr by its former MD and ex-head of controls.

Hearing the Grovers’ petition, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said that no case is made out for staying the investigation at this stage.

The HC further said that as far as the couple’s prayer for the issuance of advance notice by the police is concerned, they have other remedies available under the law.

For context, the Grovers had sought a stay on the investigation or at least issuance of a notice in case the police needed their custody.

The development comes days after Ashneer deleted all inflammatory tweets made by him against the fintech unicorn and its chairman Rajnish Kumar on the direction of the HC in a separate plea filed by BharatPe.

BhartPe has also filed a civil suit in the Delhi HC seeking INR 88.67 Cr in damages from Ashneer, Madhuri, and their family members. In addition, it has also filed an arbitration suit in the Singapore International Arbitration Centre to get back restricted shares (amounting to a 1.4% stake in BharatPe) allotted to Grover.

Besides BharatPe, Grover is also named in two separate lawsuits from BharatPe cofounders Bhavik Koladiya and Shashvat Nakrani.

The Delhi HC’s decision also comes amid a bizarre set of tweets made by OTPLess cofounder and CEO Koladiya, tagging Grover and apologising to him. In the tweet announcing the product launch of OTPLess, Koladiya also tagged BharatPe, calling it his ‘previous home’.

Last month, Inc42 reported, in detail, the untold story of the BharatPe saga, and what happened before and after the dismissals of Ashneer Grover and Madhuri Jain Grover. The report uncovered a pattern of intimidation, misinformation, threats and lies at the core of the 16-month-long controversy at the fintech unicorn.