Ashneer Grover-BharatPe battle may shift to local courts after SIAC dismisses plea

The ongoing conflict between BharatPe and its managing director Ashneer Grover is likely to shift to local courts as the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) has dismissed Grover’s plea of setting aside the ongoing governance review being conducted at the fintech firm. SIAC, as per multiple sources aware of the matter, found "no merits” in the plea filed by Grover earlier this month and refused to offer any relief to the BharatPe MD from the scrutiny under the ongoing investigation.

Grover and BharatPe declined to comment on the developments when Business Today reached out to them with separate queries. In the plea, Grover had also sought the dismissal of BharatPe’s CEO, Suhail Sameer from the company and his suspension from the Board of Directors. SIAC, meanwhile, has found no provision in the shareholder agreement which could stop BharatPe from conducting the audit.

BT had earlier reported that BharatPe could present the preliminary findings of the ongoing governance review before the arbitration panel that could impact the decision. Two sources privy to the ongoing developments said that an out of the court settlement also looks unlikely considering investors like Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital are not ready to concede to Grover’s demands for an exit. “Grover may therefore seek relief from local courts, which could also lead to another arbitration hearing locally,” sources said.

Meanwhile, sources also confirmed that BharatPe board has decided to terminate the services of Grover, especially on account of the serious charges of funds misappropriation, which includes GST evasion, leading to BharatPe to pay over Rs 11 crore after the raids were conducted by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) at the fintech's head office and issued summons to the company’s authorised signatory to appear before the authority on November 1, 2021.

BharatPe has also terminated the services of Madhuri Jain, ex-head of controls at the company and who is also the spouse of Grover, on the allegations of financial irregularities and money siphoning.

The fintech company confirmed the development to this publication. Jain had said that she didn’t tender any resignation and has shot a letter to BharatPe board questioning how the contents of preliminary findings of an ongoing corporate governance review were made public. BT has learned that the employee contract undersigned also has a provision wherein the company can take back the equity of the terminated employee.