New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday appointed an arbitrator to address the dispute related to allegations by fintech firm BharatPe against its former managing director Ashneer Grover over breach of confidentiality of his employment contract.
Judge C. Hari Shankar issued the order after BharatPe filed a petition for arbitration, accusing Grover of violating his employment contract by disclosing confidential company information on social media.
Both sides agreed to arbitration, but Grover’s lawyer proposed using the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) because of its involvement in shareholder-related disputes.
BharatPe challenged this proposal, arguing that the employment contract stipulates that the arbitration will be held at the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC). The court upheld BharatPe’s position.
The high court had previously fined Grover. ₹2 lakh for sharing inappropriate posts on BharatPe, despite assuring the court that he would not do so. Grover deleted the posts and apologised.
In November 2023, Resilient Innovations, which operates BharatPe, filed a petition seeking an interim injunction against Grover to prevent further disclosure of confidential information.
This legal action was triggered by Grover’s recent posts on X (formerly Twitter), where he revealed confidential details about BharatPe’s Series E funding round, including the number of shares allotted to investors and the specific amounts invested by each.
BharatPe vs Grover
Following his ouster in 2022, BharatPe initiated multiple legal actions against Grover.
In December 2022, the company approached SIAC to recover 1.4% of Grover. restricted shareholding due to his dismissal without the consent of the board of directors.
BharatPe also introduced a ₹BharatPe filed a suit seeking damages of Rs 88 crore in the Delhi High Court, alleging misappropriation of funds and damage to reputation. Additionally, BharatPe filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Offences Bureau (EOW), which led to the registration of an FIR in May 2023.
In November 2023, Look Out Circulars (LOC) were issued against Ashneer Grover and his wife in connection with a fraud and forgery case. In May 2024, the The court allowed the Grovers to travel abroad separately after having provided a guarantee of ₹80 crore each.
Grover’s legal disputes also involve BharatPe’s co-founders. Bhavik Koladiya filed a suit alleging breach of the share purchase agreement dated December 3, 2018, and claiming ownership of 16,110 shares, approximately 3.10% of BharatPe’s total shares.
In April, the Supreme Court barred Grover from selling or pursuing third-party claims on the stock.
Grover stepped down as CEO and co-founder of BharatPe on February 28, 2022, while Koladiya left the company in July 2022.
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