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Delhi HC restrains Ashneer Grover from creating 'interest' on Bhavik Koladiya's disputed shares

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Indu Bhan

Pranav Mukul

, ETtechLast Updated: Jan 18, 2023, 02:19:00 PM IST

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Synopsis

Koladiya has filed a suit to reclaim the disputed shares, saying Grover has not paid for the shares as per the agreement.

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The Delhi High Court on Wednesday restrained BharatPe co-founder and former managing director Ashneer Grover from creating any third-party rights or interest on shares 'transferred' to him by the company’s original co-founder Bhavik Koladiya.

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Koladiya has filed a suit to reclaim the disputed shares, saying Grover has not paid for the shares as per the agreement.

A single-judge bench of Justice Prateek Jalan also issued a notice to Grover, asking him to explain as to why he should not be asked to return the disputed shares. The bench gave Grover four weeks to respond to the plea and a week to submit an undertaking that he will not create any third-party rights on the shares.

ET exclusively reported on January 17 that Koladiya has filed a case against his former partner Grover, and was looking to reclaim his shares in the company.

Koladiya founded the fintech firm in 2017. Shortly thereafter Koladiya, who held a 30.21% stake in the company, had to exit the cap table owing to his past conviction for credit card fraud in the US, ET had earlier reported.

Grover was represented by advocate Giriraj Subramaniam, while Koladiya was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi.

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The court has set March 16 as the next date of hearing.

Rohatgi argued that the agreement between Grover and Koladiya has become “void” as the “property has not been transferred” i.e. the payment has not been made for the shares transferred. Further, in this case, the plaintiff (Koladiya) has all rights to take legal recourse, he said.

“The transaction has to be consummated the way it was meant to be... the condition was I (Koladiya) will give my shares and he (Grover) will pay,” Rohatgi argued for Koladiya. He also said that Koladiya was “gullible” to have transferred his shares, while not having simultaneously received payments from Grover.

Grover’s counsel, however, argued that there were two agreements executed for transfer of shares from Koladiya to Grover. The counsel also added that the defendant (Grover), has paid a sum of Rs 8 crore for these shares instead of Rs 88 lakh, which were the actual value of the shares.

Koladiya’s counsel, on the other hand, argued that no proof was submitted of the transaction.

“We will abide by whatever decision the court gives. We were not party to any forged agreement. The company was presented with a share transfer form and agreement to sell. We registered Ashneer as a shareholder,” BharatPe counsels Rajshekhar Rao and Anuj Berry told the court.

Last year in December, BharatPe had also approached the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), seeking to clawback co-founder Grover's restricted shareholding in the company.

This was the third legal action by BharatPe against Grover this week in an ongoing battle where the fintech firm has also filed a civil suit at the Delhi High Court and a criminal complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

Koladiya's purported stake in the company became a bone of contention after Grover resigned from the firm.