Ashneer Grover has taken legal action by approaching the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in a bid to secure his return as the Managing Director of BharatPe, a leading fintech company.

He additionally petitioned for a declaration from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), asserting that the alterations made to the company's management following his departure are unlawful.

Furthermore, he has requested the reversal of his wife Madhuri Jain Grover's termination and has asked for directives to nullify any new shares that were issued by the company subsequent to his resignation on March 1, 2022.

A panel consisting of judicial member Mahendra Khandelwal and technical member Rahul Bhatnagar presided over the proceedings on December 6 to address the case.

BharatPe's legal representative contested the admissibility of the plea, contending that only a member owning more than 10% of the issued share capital could file a petition under Section 241 of the Companies Act, 2013, for relief in cases of oppression. They argued that this requirement wasn't met in this instance.

In response, Grover's lawyer pointed to BharatPe's Annual Report for the year 2021-22, highlighting that the company's total equity shares amounted to 1,01,925, and Grover's shareholding accounted for 43,877 shares, constituting 43% of the total, thus meeting the stipulated threshold.

BharatPe argued that the 1,01,925 shares represented the total equity shares issued by the company and emphasized that Grover's shareholding in the issued share capital was a minute 0.013%.

Advocates Giriraj Subramanium, Simarpal Singh Sawhney, Veda Singh, Rahul Kumar, Siddhant Juyal, Akhilesh Talluri, Urvashi Singh, Ravi Pathak, MP Devnath, Abhishek Anand, and Atul Sharma represented Ashneer Grover in the proceedings.

Senior Advocate Krishnendu Datta, accompanied by Advocates Abhijeet Sinha, Anuj Berry, Sourabh Rath, Megha Janakiraman, Bhargavi Vadeyar, Vibhore Yadav, Aparajito Sen, Vipul Ganda, Ayandeb Mitra, Amodini Raina, and SK Giri, represented BharatPe and its office bearers in the proceedings.

Grover's interim requests encompass maintaining the status quo regarding the company's shareholding structure since his departure. He's also seeking directives to appoint two of his representatives on BharatPe's board to safeguard the company's interests.

His argument revolves around the assertion that his removal from BharatPe was coercive and arbitrary, aimed at reclaiming his restricted shares in an illegal and non-compliant manner, contrary to established legal procedures.

Grover asserted that despite his dismissal from BharatPe, the board members continue their efforts to pressure him, solely aiming to repurchase the restricted shares at an unreasonably low price.

Case Title - Ashneer Grover v Resilient Innovations Pvt Ltd