Ashneer Grover. (File picture)
Ashneer Grover requests NCLT to order inspection and audit of the corporate by Ministry of Corporate Affairs and to revert any shares/ESOPs issued since his resignation on March 1, 2022
Ashneer Grover, co-founder and former managing director of BharatPe, has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), alleging oppressive conduct and mismanagement by the board of the fintech agency. In his petition, Grover has prayed for reinstating him as managing director of the corporate and declare as “illegal” modifications within the administration of the corporate by altering the board of Resilient Innovations Pvt Ltd, which is doing enterprise as BharatPe.
He has additionally requested NCLT to order inspection and audit of the corporate by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and to revert any shares/ESOPs issued since his resignation on March 1, 2022. Grover has additionally sought revocation of termination of his spouse Madhuri Jain by the board, terming it “illegal”. He has additionally requested for elimination of any new member inducted on the board after his exit.
Moreover, he has requested NCLT to direct winding up of the corporate within the “interest of justice” within the petition filed beneath Sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act 2013, which offers with oppression and mismanagement. Grover’s plea got here for a listening to final week on December 6, the place his counsel sought time to handle the difficulty of maintainability additional.
A two-member bench comprising members Mahandra Khandelwal and Rahul Bhatnagar was directed to record the matter on January 11, 2024, for the subsequent listening to. Grover has submitted he has a “prima facie” case on deserves and the stability of comfort lies in his favour. In case aid isn’t granted, then grave irreparable hurt, loss and harm could be induced to him, as per the petition.
In his petition, Grover has talked about 12 respondents, together with the corporate, its founder Shasvat Nakrani, Chairman Rajnish Kumar, former CEO and director Sushil Sameer and different administrators and officers of Resilient Innovations. Grover has alleged that he has a “coerced termination from the employment” of the corporate in an arbitrary method and clawback of his restrictive shares “illegally, arbitrarily” with out due compliance of the legislation.
The voice of a director and the most important particular person shareholder of BharatPe has been muffled as a way to mismanage the affairs of the corporate, he alleged. “The entire conduct of the board of directors of Respondent No 1 (BharatPe) from sending the petitioner (Grover) on a temporary leave over a fabricated issue that has nothing to do with the affairs of the company to sending the petitioner of compulsory leave by passing a board resolution in excessive exercise and abuse of its power forcing to resign from Respondent No 1 company is nothing but conducting its affairs in a manner contrary to and prejudicial to …. ,” he submitted.
He additionally questioned the haste on the a part of BharatPe administration to invoke arbitration on the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).
Last month, Ashneer Grover and his spouse Madhuri Jain Grover had been stopped on the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police whereas they had been travelling to New York for a trip. On that, Ashneer Grover mentioned he acquired EOW summons solely 7 hours after getting back from airport.
The growth got here after allegations that Grover’s household siphoned off funds from BharatPe on the pretext of providing recruitment providers, gave financial institution accounts numbers that had been created after the dates once they had been raised, as per the EOW’s preliminary report of an investigation.
Last 12 months, BharatPe had filed a felony criticism with the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing on 17 counts, together with embezzlement, forgery, and felony breach of belief, which may land the Grovers in jail for as much as 10 years if confirmed responsible.
According to a lawsuit introduced by BharatPe, Grover’s spouse Madhuri Jain accepted funds totalling Rs 7.6 crore to eight such distributors who didn’t help the corporate in recruiting any staff.
(With Inputs from PTI)
