Delhi High Court quashes EOW FIR against Ashneer Grover, and his wife

11 Nov 2024, 04:37 PM

As part of the September 30 settlement, BharatPe has withdrawn both civil and criminal complaint against Grover and his family.

Arti Singh

After two-three hearings, the Delhi High Court has finally quashed Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing's FIR (EOW) registered last year against former BharatPe managing director Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover.


After a settlement of their disputes with BharatPe on September 30th, the husband-wife duo moved the Delhi HC seeking quashing of EOW FIR. 

On October 7th, the Delhi HC was informed that BharatPe, its former MD Ashneer Grover and his wife have settled their disputes in a case of an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud; and urged the court to quash the FIR lodged against Grover and his family.

In May 2023, the EOW registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Grover and his family in connection with a fraud case under provisions, including 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, banker, merchant, or agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC (lookout circular) issued by the EOW also ends.

"Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the Respondents (EOW) to cancel the LOC against the petitioners (Ashneer Grover and Madhuri Jain Grover) in their records. In view of the foregoing, the original title deeds of the properties (one in Camellias, Gurgaon and the other in Panchsheel Park, Delhi); original share certificate (comprising of 5660 shares of Resilient Innovations Private Limited); Emirates ID issued by the United Arab Emirates Government; passports of Ashneer Grover's children, which are lying with the Registry, are directed to be released to the petitioners," the order copy reads.

As part of the settlement, BharatPe has withdrawn both civil and criminal complaint against Grover and his family.

Last month, Grover also withdrew his petition from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) after reaching a settlement with the fintech firm. Grover had initially filed the petition alleging oppressive conduct and mismanagement by the board. The Delhi bench of the NCLT allowed the withdrawal on October 14, 2024, following the submission of a settlement agreement.

On September 30th, BharatPe and Grover reached a settlement after months of intense legal battles in both Indian courts and international arbitration -- a development exclusively reported by The Head and Tale.

As part of the settlement, Grover also returned shares (close to 2.6% stake) to BharatPe co-founder Bhavik Koladiya, resolving the share ownership dispute that was ongoing since Koladiya filed a lawsuit seeking to reclaim shares originally transferred in December 2018.

The legal battle between Grover and BharatPe dates back to early 2022, when Grover was accused of financial irregularities, including the misappropriation of funds and recruitment fraud. 

The author is Founder and Editor of The Head and Tale. She can be reached at [email protected]
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