My Book Has Ruffled Feathers Of Many At BharatPe: Ashneer Grover

In a veiled attack on his former employer BharatPe, Ashneer Grover has now said that his book, Doglapan, has ruffled the feathers of many at the fintech giant, BharatPe. 

Hinting that the case filed against him by BharatPe was likely the result of the book, Grover said that the launch of his book has supposedly created panic among the fintech’s executives.

Tagging a follower on Twitter, Grover tweeted, “…yeh case to isliye aaye kyun ki kitaab se sab ki fat li (The lawsuits have probably been filed because the book has scared everyone).”

Meanwhile, taking a jibe at BharatPe cofounder Shashvat Nakrani, Grover tweeted, “Doglapan: Shashvat (cofounder) to me. Bhai degree poori karni hai. Ek saal office bunk kar ke IIT poora kar leta hoon. Secondary kara dena aur salary bhi mat rokna – investor ko mat batana . Shashvat to Board: No objection in filing case against Ashneer.” (Hypocrisy: Shashvat told me that he wanted to skip office for a year to complete his degree at IIT. He also sought me out to not stop his salary during the period, help him execute secondary sales and keep investors out of the loop regarding this information. But, when it came to me, he had no objections when the board decided to file a case against me).

Grover’s tweets have come a week after ace investor Sanjeev Bikhchandani, quoting an epilogue from Grover’s book Doglapan, took a jibe at him and other founders for indulging in secondary sales.

“We seek entrepreneurs who want to run the company for the rest of their lives, if needed. We don’t want founders who want to sell secondary,” Bikhchandani had said in a long Twitter thread.

The new round of public war of words comes a couple of days after BharatPe launched a multi-pronged legal attack against Grover, including a civil suit seeking INR 89 Cr in damages and to stop the founder from making alleged derogatory comments against the company.

The fintech major has also filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Offence Wing (EoW) against Grover and his wife. 

Not just this, BharatPe has also approached the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) to claw back 1.4% of Grover’s unvested shares and stop Grover from using the title of BharatPe’s cofounder.

At the centre of the debate are allegations made by BharatPe against Ashneer Grover, his wife and  company’s former head of controls Madhuri Jain Grover, and his family members. 

In its petition before the Delhi High Court, the company has claimed that the couple reimbursed fake vendors, indulged in a GST fraud, and used the company’s funds for personal use. 

The two sides are locked in a bitter battle as both legal and verbal drama continues to unfold. As both refuse to back down, it remains to be seen which party prevails. For now, BharatPe is looking ahead to the next hearing, while Ashneer Grover is  making headlines for the launch of his book, Doglapan.