The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted stay on the investigation involving Ashneer Grover and Madhuri Jain Grover, pertaining to the FIR filed by Delhi Police following a complaint by fintech firm BharatPe.
A single-judge Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, presiding as a single judge, determined that there were no grounds at this stage to halt the investigation.
The bench also noted that the duo could pursue alternative legal remedies regarding their request for advance notice by the police.
“This court is of the view that no case is made out, at this stage, for staying the investigation and so far as prayer about advance notice is concerned, petitioner is at liberty to adopt other remedies available to them in accordance with law,” the bench ordered.
Consequently, the court served notice to the Delhi Police and BharatPe regarding the plea submitted by the Grovers, requesting the quashing of the FIR and seeking interim relief in the form of a stay.
Ashneer Grover previously served as the Managing Director of BharatPe, while Madhuri Grover held the position of Head of Operations. Both individuals departed from the company in early 2022.
Following BharatPe’s complaint against the couple in December 2022, the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing registered an FIR against them in May of this year.
BharatPe has accused the Grovers of a fraud amounting to approximately ₹81 crores. The police invoked relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery, and criminal conspiracy in the FIR.
The Grovers approached the High Court, seeking the quashing of the FIR, while also requesting a stay on the investigation during the interim period.
Alternatively, it was requested that the police provide advance notice if they intended to take custody of the duo. Appearing for the Grovers, Advocate Giriraj Subramanium contended that the allegations in the FIR concerned specific transactions related to GST and other management matters that the petitioners, as directors, were authorized to undertake on behalf of the company.
He stated that the couple had obtained the necessary authorization from the company’s board of directors. Subramanium further argued that the Grovers played a significant role in driving the fintech firm’s valuation to nearly ₹20,000 crores, and the allegations made against them did not indicate any criminal wrongdoing.
Advocate Subramanium argued that the company’s annual report for the year 2021-2022 did not indicate any fraud. BharatPe was represented by Senior Advocates Vikas Pahwa and Dayan Krishnan, who opposed the plea.
They contended that the case involved intricate financial transactions that resulted in misappropriation of the company’s funds. The Senior Counsel asserted that the essence of the allegations against the Grovers was their involvement in fictitious transactions, where non-existent vendors were used, and fraudulent documents were created for recruitment purposes.
The legal dispute between the Grovers and BharatPe began following the former’s removal from the company. In December 2022, one of the co-founders of BharatPe filed a complaint alleging a fraud of ₹81 crore against the company. Grover left the firm in March 2022, while his wife is said to have been terminated in February of the same year.
BharatPe has initiated a defamation suit against the Grovers in the Delhi High Court. In the previous hearing, Grover informed the Court that he had removed all purported defamatory content regarding BharatPe from his social media accounts.
