The Delhi High Court has declined to stay the investigation into allegations of fraud against Ashneer Grover and Madhuri Jain Grover, as per an FIR filed by BharatPe with the Delhi Police. BharatPe, a company based in Delhi, has accused Grover and his wife of involvement in a fraud amounting to ₹81 crore, according to a report by Bar and Bench.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had previously registered an FIR against Ashneer Grover, former managing director of BharatPe, along with his wife Madhuri Jain Grover and other family members, including Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain, and Shwetank Jain. The FIR has been filed under multiple sections of serious criminal offenses, including criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.
In December 2022, BharatPe lodged a criminal complaint with the EOW, alleging fraud, criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and destruction of evidence amounting to ₹81.28 crore. Additionally, BharatPe filed a civil suit with the Delhi High Court seeking damages of over ₹88.67 crore from Grover and his family under various categories.
BharatPe also initiated an arbitration claim in Singapore to recover restricted shares (1.4%) allotted to Grover and prevent him from using the title of a founder. In January of this year, Koladiya filed a lawsuit against Grover to reclaim the shares transferred in December 2018.
The Delhi High Court, on May 16, had directed both Ashneer Grover and BharatPe to refrain from using defamatory language against each other. Since his departure from the company in March 2022, Grover has been making defamatory statements targeting BharatPe, its co-founders, and the company’s board, particularly Rajnish Kumar.