Delhi HC orders cancellation of LOC issued against Ashneer Grover, wife

On By Pranco

The Delhi High Court has ordered the Bureau of Immigration to cancel a Look Out Circular (LOC) against BharatPe’s former director Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover.

A bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula took note of the contention that the FIR forming the basis for issuance of LOC was quashed based on a compromise between the parties.

“Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the respondents (authorities) to cancel the LOC against the petitioners in their records,” it ordered.

After a lengthy and dramatic court battle, BharatPe said in September this year that it had reached a settlement with its former co-founder Grover, who was sued by the fintech company along with his family members for allegedly embezzling funds worth Rs. 88.67 million.

The fintech company said that as part of the agreement, Grover will not be associated with BharatPe in any capacity nor will he be part of the company’s shareholding.

It added that both sides have decided not to pursue the filed cases.

BharatPe had filed a criminal complaint in December 2022 against Grover, Madhuri Grover, Shwetank Jain (her brother), Suresh Jain (Grover’s father-in-law) and Deepak Gupta (the couple’s brother-in-law). It is alleged that Grover, founder and ex-director of BharatPe, his wife and other officials were involved in criminal misappropriation of the company’s funds, based on several fabricated documents. Accordingly, payments were made to non-existent vendors and HR consultancies, causing the complainant company an unlawful loss of approximately Rs 81 crore.

The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police arrested Deepak Gupta in connection with misappropriation of the company’s funds. Earlier, another accused in the case, Amit Bansal, was also arrested by the EOW.

BharatPe had also approached the Delhi High Court, months after Grover and his wife were dismissed from the company over allegations of misappropriation of funds. In its 2,800-page lawsuit, BharatPe sought damages worth Rs 88.67 crore from Grover, his wife and others for alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds.