Delhi HC fines Ashneer Grover Rs 2 lakh for posting against BharatPe
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover in a case related to alleged derogatory social media posts against the fintech company.
Justice Rekha Palli took on record the apology and undertaking given by Grover, but imposed the fine on him, saying “the court cannot be taken for granted”.
Addressing a plea from Resilient Innovations Pvt Ltd, the company that owns BharatPe, against its former MD, the judge stated that Grover’s earlier orders and assurances had been “blatantly” and “persistently” broken. This left the court “appalled.”
“This court is inclined to close the matter at this stage by binding defendant no. 2 to his undertaking, given that defendant no. 2 is now filing an affidavit specifically promising not to post any such defamatory posts in the future and is also apologizing for his past behavior.”
However, payment of Rs 2 lakh in costs is required first,” the court ruled. The money is to be paid to the High Court Clerks’ Association, per the court’s directive.
Senior attorney Akhil Sibal argued on behalf of the plaintiff that Grover was defaming the fintech company on social media despite court orders for the parties to refrain from making offensive remarks and Grover’s promise to do so.
The senior attorney claimed that Grover, who was now using a “shoot and scoop” approach to publish his defamatory posts, had promised that an earlier application by the plaintiff would also be closed. He asked the judge to impose an injunction prohibiting Grover from sharing any such material.
Grover’s attorney stated that his client was offering an apology and promising not to make any offensive posts going forward, and that the current plea could be dismissed. Additionally, he recommended that mediation be used to resolve the issue.
In an effort to stop its former MD, Ashneer Grover, and his family members from making allegedly defamatory remarks, Resilient Innovations filed a lawsuit against them last year
Ashneer Grover, his spouse, and other defendants in the lawsuit brought by the fintech company, which charges the couple with embezzling money, were served summonses by the court.
Grover left the company in March 2022, and his wife lost her position.
In addition to asking the court to stop the defendants from making defamatory remarks, the company is requesting payment of more than Rs 88.67 crore in addition to interest in order to recover monies that it claims were misappropriated and to compensate for harm done to the company’s reputation.
Grover, his wife, and other family members, according to the company’s previous court filing, were engaged in a “vicious and vitriolic” campaign against the company, which has a significant number of foreign investors.
The company has named Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain, and Shwetank Jain as defendants in addition to Grover and his spouse. All three of these individuals are the couple’s relatives who were appointed to various positions within the company.
The company has requested a directive to the defendants to delete or remove any statements, tweets, social media posts, books, retweets, hashtags, videos, press conferences, interviews, and comments made against the company within five days as an interim remedy. Additionally, it requested the ability to request the removal of such content from publications, media outlets, social media sites, and other sources.
The High Court requested on May 16 that all parties refrain from using unlawful and slanderous publications against one another.
Aspect & Details
Full Name Ashneer Grover
Birth date June 14, 1982 (40 years, as of 2022)
Birthplace Delhi, India
Education – B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Delhi MBA in Finance from IIM Ahmedabad
Early Life – Elementary education in Delhi,
Selected for an exchange program to INSA Lyon University, France, in 2002
Career Timeline – Vice President at Kotak Investment Banking (2006-2013) , Director , Corporate at American Express (2013-2015) , Chief Financial Officer at , Grofers (March 2015 – August 2017) , Business Head at PC Jewellers (November 2017 – October 2018) , Co-founder of BharatPe (2018-2022), Shark Tank India Judge (2021)
BharatPe Highlights – Co-founded BharatPe in 2018 with Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya, Resigned as MD and board director on February 28, 2022
Shark Tank India – Judge on the Indian version of Shark Tank in 2021 , Invested in 55 startups during the show, including The Whole Truth, India Gold, OTO Capital, and Front Row
Net Worth (2022) – Estimated net worth of $107 million , Net worth in Indian rupees around Rs. 790 crores
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