Delhi HC Directs Ashneer Grover To Take Down Tweets Against BharatPe, Former SBI Chairman

The Delhi High Court on Friday (March 15) directed former managing director of BharatPe to remove his tweet against the company and former State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar within 48 hours.

Grover had made posts on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) against the company and alluding to Kumar, calling them “petty people”.

In its order, the court observed that the entrepreneur cannot destroy BharatPe’s reputation and his tweet on SBI chairman was “completely avoidable.”

It added that the tweet was nothing but an innuendo towards BharatPe’s chairperson, who is a former SBI chairman, Bar and Bench reported.

In one tweet, Grover referred to Kumar as “petty people,” implying a flaw in the company’s core. Grover and Kumar have been in conflict since the former’s departure from the company in early 2022, reported Moneycontrol.

This followed an application by BharatPe against Grover for his recent “defamatory” tweets. In November, Grover apologised for disclosing confidential information about the fintech unicorn’s Series E round on X. His lawyer had assured that such actions would not be repeated.

In May 2023, the Delhi High Court expressed its strong displeasure towards defamatory language being used by BharatPe and Grover towards each other.

BharatPe filed a plea to restrict Grover, who had a public falling out and exited the startup abruptly, from disclosing confidential information about the company, as he remains bound by confidentiality obligations under his employment agreement.

This comes at a time when Grover reportedly shot off another letter to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) calling for a probe against Kumar.

In the letter, Grover urged the RBI to investigate whether Kumar has cornered equity shares worth hundreds of crores since joining the company’s board.

Since its launch, BharatPe has raised over $650 Mn across multiple rounds from investors such as Peak XV Partners, Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners and Steadview Capital.

The fintech unicorn posted a net loss of INR 926.9 Cr in FY23, which widened 12% year-on-year while its consolidated operating revenue jumped 125% YoY to cross the INR 1,000 Cr mark in FY23.

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