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Synopsis

On November 11, the Delhi High Court quashed a look-out circular (LOC) issued against Ashneer Grover, co-founder and former director of BharatPe, and his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover. The court observed that since the FIR relating to cheating and fraud charges against Grover had been dismissed, the LOC could not be upheld.

The bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula stated, “In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by the Respondent No. 3, in the opinion of the Court, would not survive”.

In an earlier order, the court permitted Ashneer Grover to travel to the UK and Qatar, despite strong opposition from the Union.

Background:

The conflict had escalated in recent months, with BharatPe filing a petition to restrain Grover from publicly revealing the company's internal information. Subsequently, Grover removed the contentious posts and issued an apology.

In April 2024, Bhavik Koladiya, a co-founder, sought an injunction against Grover over 16,110 shares that had been transferred to Grover in December 2022, for which payment was still pending.

In December 2023, another co-founder, Shashvat Nakrani, also attempted to prevent Grover from selling or transferring shares previously sold to him. Nakrani claimed that although Grover asserted payment had been made in cash, Nakrani had not received it.

The court, recently, directed that the dispute between BharatPe and Grover be submitted for arbitration. BharatPe contended that Grover, during his time with the company, had access to confidential information, which he allegedly disclosed on social media, thereby breaching the confidentiality agreement. The court mandated that the arbitration be conducted under the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), in strict accordance with the employment contract.