BharatPe co-founder, Bhavik Koladiya had moved the High Court arguing that he transferred his shares to Ashneer Grover in December 2022 but that Grover never paid him for the same.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday restrained former managing director of BharatPe, Ashneer Grover from selling or creating any third parties rights on the shares transferred to him by co-founder Bhavik Koladiya.
Bhavik Koladiya had moved the High Court arguing that he transferred these shares to Ashneer Grover in December 2022 but that Grover never paid him for the same.
Justice Prateek Jalan today allowed an interim relief application filed by Koladiya and said that the interim order will remain in force till the Court decides on Koladiya’s case against Grover.
After pronouncing the order, Justice Jalan complimented Grover’s counsel advocate Giriraj Subramanium.
“I must complimented you on the presentation of the case, even though you could not ultimately prevail,” Justice Jalan said.
Bhavik Koladiya has submitted that he had agreed to transfer 1,611 of his 2,900 shares (which are now 16,110 shares) to Grover by way of an agreement dated December 3, 2022. The consideration for the transfer of the 1,611 shares was approximately ₹88 lakhs.
He claimed that till date, Grover has not paid the share purchase consideration.
Koladiya founded the fintech firm in 2017 with Shashvat Nakrani. In 2018, they started looking for a chief executive, after which Grover came on board.
According to a news report in The Economic Times, Koladiya (the largest shareholder in the company) had to leave the company, allegedly because his past conviction in the United States in a credit card fraud case was hindering talks with investors.
The same ET report said that when he resigned, Koladiya transferred his shares to Grover, Nakrani and one Mansukhbhai Mohanbhai Nakrani, as well as some other early-stage and angel investors.
It was argued before the Court that between February and early March 2022, Grover started claiming property in the 16,110 shares by publicly proclaiming himself to be the single largest shareholder of BharatPe.
Koladiya said that Grover refused to return his shares when requested, prompting him to move the High Court for relief.
Meanwhile, Grover has denied the allegations and said that the agreement referred to by Koladiya’s counsel was forged and fabricated.
Source : https://www.barandbench.com/news/corporate/wilson-sonsini-partner-neel-maitra-joins-dechert-llp