The Delhi High Court on Friday directed BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover to take down his “derogatory” social media posts against the firm.
Judge on Grover’s ‘petty people’ post
Discussing one of his tweets in which he referred to SBI chairmen as “petty people”, Justice Prathiba M Singh said the tweet was an innuendo targeting the current BharatPe board chairperson Rajnish Kumar, who previously held that position. She noted that the post was “completely avoidable” and that Grover acted in violation of previous court directives instructing him not to make defamatory accusations against the company.
She further ordered the removal of news articles concerning a letter from Grover to the RBI, wherein he made allegations against BharatPe.
The order has been taken in the case of a lawsuit filed by BharatPe-owner Resilient Innovations against Grover and his family for the recovery of over Rs 88 crore and relief against defamation.
Justice Singh directed Grover’s lawyer to warn him against posting such tweets and derogatory remarks against the firm. “Whatever things are happening, you will not yourself do anything. You will not go public like this,” added the court.
The senior counsel representing the plaintiff company stated that despite previous court orders in the matter, Grover recently tweeted regarding his letter to the RBI, alleging that BharatPe had “defrauded” the regulator. He emphasised that allegations were also directed towards the current chairman of the company’s board.
The court observed that making “unnecessary” public statements would not only harm the company’s business and employees but also tarnish its reputation. Remarking that BharatPe is a “well established company”, the court said that the dispute between the two will be resolved. However, it added that Grover “will not destroy the business of the company”. “If that happens, who will invest further?” the court asked.
“The said tweets and publication be taken down by Defendant no 2 (Grover) as well as (the media platform). Any publication based on the letter be taken down by the platform,” the court ordered.
(With PTI inputs)