On Thursday, the Delhi High Court directed the appointment of a sole arbitrator to address the ongoing disputes between Ashneer Grover and the fintech firm BharatPe.

The court’s decision follows BharatPe’s plea under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, which alleges that Grover, the former CEO and Managing Director, breached confidentiality clauses in his employment agreement by disclosing sensitive company information on social media.

Justice C Hari Shankar issued the order after BharatPe proposed former Supreme Court judge Justice Hemant Gupta as the arbitrator.

Grover consented to arbitration but recommended Justice (Retired) JR Midha instead. BharatPe opposed this suggestion, arguing that the arbitration should not be conducted under the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) as there is no such provision in the employment agreement.

The court decided that the arbitration will be conducted under the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC). Previously, BharatPe had sought a Section 9 injunction to prevent Grover from publicly sharing company details, which he later removed and apologized for. The arbitration will also address this issue.

BharatPe's legal team includes Advocates Anuj Berry and Sourabh Rath from Trilegal.