The Delhi High Court on March 15 has directed former BharatPe co-founder and CEO Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain to take down defamatory posts against the company and its board Chairman Rajnish Kumar.

This comes after Grover wrote a letter to the Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, questioning the company’s moves and indicating intentional manipulation while applying for license and stake approvals.

He also called for an investigation into “warehousing” of Koladiya’s shares by the board and investors for reinstating him after gaining assent. 

In one of his posts made on microblogging site X, Grover indirectly called former SBI MD and BharatPe’s board Chairman Rajnish Kumar “petty”. The Court has ordered for the tweet to be taken down as well.

"You cannot destroy the reputation of a whole company (BharatPe) like and call all SBI chairmen petty people," the Court ruled.

Based on the ruling, two media houses have also been ordered to pull down posts made on Grover’s letter to the RBI within 48 hours.

The Court noted that this is the fourth time BharaPe has approached Court for a relief in the matter, noting previous instances in which BharatPe knocked legal doors to restrain Grover from making the posts.

Grover had also given an undertaking in Court on the defamatory posts previously, with the present social media posts violating previous orders and his own letter.

Additionally, Grover has been directed by the High Court to provide copies of the two letters written to BharatPe on March 6 and 9 respectively.

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.

The Delhi High Court in November imposed a Rs 2 lakh fine on Grover for defamatory social media posts against the fintech company.