The Delhi High Court on Friday ordered Ashneer Grover to take down fresh allegations made by him against fintech firm BharatPe and the company’s board chairman Rajnish Kumar. Justice Prathiba M Singh also ordered The Economic Times to take down two articles published by it revealing the content of the letters written by Ashneer Grover to Reserve Bank of India (RBI).The Court added that all other news reports based on Grover's letters shall also be taken down.It also restrained Grover from making any more defamatory allegations against BharatPe and said that if the allegations are made on any of the social media platforms, the same shall be taken down within 48 hours.
Have removed social media posts against BharatPe: Ashneer Grover to Delhi High Court
The Court passed the order on a fresh application filed by BharatPe in its already pending case against Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover.The fintech firm argued that Grover has violated the injunction orders passed by the High Court and his own undertaking that he will not make defamatory allegations against BharatPe.It is BharatPe’s argument that Grover wrote two letters to the RBI containing defamatory and disparaging comments against against BharatPe and the contents of these letters were widely reported in the media.The first letter urged the RBI to initiate an investigation into BharatPe for allegedly defrauding the central bank by bringing back Bhavik Koladiya, who was convicted of wire fraud in the US, after securing a bunch of licences.The second letter accused BharatPe’s board chairman Rajnish Kumar of allocating equity shares worth hundreds of crores to himself since joining the company.BharatPe contended that these allegations are entirely false and the issues are being brought up by Grover only to district from his own wrongdoings.After considering the allegations, Justice Singh said that Grover cannot violate the Court orders and his own undertaking."You (Grover) yourself will not do anything against the company. You will not go public like this…These are well-established companies. Whatever dispute there is, that will be resolved. But, you will not destroy the reputation of the company like this."The Court also expressed strong displeasure with Grover's tweet calling all SBI Chairmen "petty". The tweet was made following Supreme Court of India's decision rejecting SBI's application seeking more time to reveal data on electoral bonds."The Defendant No 2 (Ashneer Grover) being a businessman and having been the founder of the plaintiff (BharatPe) ought not be making derogatory tweets in this manner. Moreover, the tweet calling SBI chairmen as petty people was completely avoidable as the same is nothing but an innuendo towards BharatPe Chairman. Such tweets and retweets are prima facie in violation of the court order and undertaking given," the Court recorded in its order.
Advocate Giriraj Subramanium appeared for Grover and reasoned that he had not leaked the letters written by him to the press, and that the reports were published based on source information.
He said that there is a corporate war going on between the two sides and the press is interested in it. The media is publishing source based information against me Grover well, he stressed.
The Court rejected the argument and remarked that it will summons Economic Times and ask them how they got Grover's letter.
However, the Court passed no such order.
Earlier, Senior Advocate Amit Sibal appeared for BharatPe and stated that Grover has been a habitual offender and goes on a tirade against BharatPe any time there is a development in the criminal case filed by the company against him.
"There is a pattern. Whenever something happens against him in criminal proceedings, he goes on this tirade. We are a respected company. This is a very serious matter that affects our reputation directly," he said.
BharatPe has sued Grover and his wife to restrain them from making defamatory allegations against the fintech firm.
In its suit, BharatPe has claimed damages of over ₹88.67 crore from Grover, his wife and his brother under various heads. BharatPe also filed applications seeking details of Grover and his family’s bank accounts and properties owned by them.
The allegations have been refuted by Grover, who has maintained that he was unlawfully ousted from the company.
Recently, while dealing with the suit, the Delhi High Court had imposed a fine of ₹2 lakh on Grover for violating its order and using ‘unparliamentary’ language on social media against his former employers.
TAGS: Delhi High Court Ashneer Grover BharatPe Rajnish Kumar
