Goli hi maar do seedha: Ashneer Grover calls IT notice ‘tax terrorism’

IT Notice: BharatPe’s former founder Ashneer Grover has lashed out at the Income Tax department for a tax notice, requiring him to respond in less than two days.

In a now-deleted post on X, Grover said, “Tax terrorism or vendetta? Take your pick. IT Notice sent at 8:00 am today giving time till tomorrow 12:28 PM to respond.” 

“Come on folks - now there is not even an attempt to make things seem genuine. Goli hi maar do seedha !,” he posted with a screenshot of the notice.

Grover has been served a notice  under Sub-Section 1, of Section 142 of the Income Tax Act 1961, which pertains to a preliminary investigation into the mismatch between the income tax return filed by the assessee and the information available to the Administrative Officer (AO).

He marked the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman and the income tax department in the post. Grover has in the past equated tax to punishment.

In November, Grover was stopped at the Delhi airport amid a summon by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police over an alleged Rs 81-crore fraud at BharatPe.

Grover has been in the news for his battle with BharatPe’s board, led by former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar. CEO of the company Suhail Sameer also left the company in March last year, amid several high-profile exits in the fintech firm.

He recently wrote a letter to the Reserve Bank of India governor against BharatPe, demanding a probe into its shareholding patterns and questioning co-founder Bhavik Koladiya’s presence on its board despite wire fraud allegations.

Grover, who joined BharatPe as an investor and co-founder in 2018, was embroiled in allegations of misappropriating company funds along with his wife Madhuri Jain, who served as the head of control at BharatPe, helming charge for procurement and administration.

He was formerly the chief financial officer at Grofers (now Blinkit, owned by Zomato), Kotak Investment Bank, PC Jeweller Ltd and American Express.