BharatPe: HC Restrains Ashneer Grover on Share Transfer

New Delhi, Apr 30 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked payment app BharatPe's former MD Ashneer Grover not to transfer or create any third-party rights in the shares transferred to him by the company's co-founder Bhavik Koladiya.

Justice Prateek Jalan passed the interim order on a lawsuit by Koladiya seeking to reclaim the shares he transferred to his erstwhile colleague.

The judge opined that the plaintiff, Koladiya, made out a prima facie case for the grant of such an injunction as he would suffer irreparable loss and prejudice if third-party rights were created in the shares being claimed by him.

"Defendant No.1 (Grover) is therefore restrained from transferring or creating any third-party rights in the Suit Shares, or any rights accrued or which may accrue to him as a consequence thereof, until the disposal of the suit," the court in its order.

"It is made clear that the observations and findings in this judgment have been recorded only for disposal of this application and are not intended to prejudice the parties at trial," clarified the court.

Koladiya and Shashvat Nakrani founded BharatPe in July 2017, although the firm was not incorporated till March 2018. Grover had joined the company in June 2018 and resigned in March 2022.

Last January, Koladiya had approached the high court claiming that he had sold to Grover his 1,600 shares whose total value was around Rs 88 lakh but no money was paid to him.

He had said the shares have now become 16,000 and the title need not pass to Grover and that he was asking for his goods back which he had given.

The court had then issued a summons to Grover while noting his counsel's submission that he would not create any third-party rights in the 16,110 shares in question under further orders of the court.

Koladiya, in his interim application, had sought an interim injunction restraining Grover from creating any third-party rights in the shares which are the subject matter of the suit.

The application was opposed by Grover's counsel.

Koladiya, who ran the fintech firm's technology and product divisions, had stepped down in 2022.