Ashneer Grover to remove defamatory tweets against BharatPe and SBI Chairman : Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has issued a directive to Ashneer Grover, the former managing director of BharatPe, ordering him to remove his defamatory tweets targeting both the company and the chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) within 48 hours. 

The court emphasized that Grover’s tweets were detrimental to BharatPe’s reputation and interests, characterizing his remarks against the SBI chairman as ‘completely avoidable’ and suggestive of wrongdoing within the organization. 

Specifically, Grover’s tweet dated March 12, in which he referred to the SBI Chairman as ‘petty people’ and insinuated internal issues, was deemed defamatory and damaging. 

Ashneer had posted on X that, “The SBI Chairman seems to be ‘petty people’. And something very wrong at their core. I learnt it the hard way. So did SC.”

The court directed that tweets and posts made by Ashneer and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover ‘should be taken down within 48 hours’.

Ashneer’s social media posts were violative of the letter and spirit of the previous orders of the court and the said undertaking, the court noted.

Ashneer has earlier written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), asking the Central Bank to initiate an investigation into the shareholding of BharatPe. 

This legal action follows Grover’s previous correspondence with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), where he alleged fraudulent practices by BharatPe regarding its shareholding. Ashneer has earlier written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), asking the Central Bank to initiate an investigation into the shareholding of BharatPe.

Earlier this week, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) dismissed Ashneer’s challenge to its jurisdiction on its power to decide on the clawback of his shares in the fintech unicorn BharatPe he co-founded.