Ashneer Grover writes to BharatPe; seeks action against CEO for 'despicable behaviour'

The controversy surrounding Ashner Grover, co-founder of BharatPe, continues to rage and the firm and its previous CEO were seen engaging in a verbal spat. Grover filed a letter to the company's board of directors on Friday, requesting that Suhail Sameer, the company's CEO, be fired for making derogatory statements about him on social media.

Earlier, on Wednesday, Karan Sarki a BharatPe IT associate posted on LinkedIn claiming he and other employees had not received their March salaries. “We were with BharatPe ever since the company started and now we are nowhere because of your internal politics," Karan Sarki wrote on LinkedIn, tagging BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer and co-founders Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani. 

Grover, responding to Karan Sarki's post on LinkedIn, asked Bharatpe CEO Suhail Sameer to look into this issue. He wrote, “Folks please look into this. Not done - their salaries have to be paid first before anything”.  Aashima Grover, Ashneer Grover's sister, too, chimed in, calling BharatPe's top management a "shameless bunch."

Responding to this, BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer took a jibe at Aashima Grover by saying, “Tere Bhai ne saara paisa chura liya (your brother stole all the money). Very little left to pay salaries."

Ashneer's letter to BharatPe

After Suhail Kumar's remarks, Ashneer Grover wrote a letter to BharatPe seeking action against the current CEO for his remarks made on social media. "Sameer’s language in response to the aforesaid social media post is not only defamatory but “also blatantly a public lie and admission of the company being bankrupt by no less than its own CEO and member of the board," he wrote.

Grover's letter, reviewed by news agency PTI, read:

"Going by precedents and self-proclaimed high standards of this board, the CEO should be immediately served a show-cause notice for his despicable public behaviour and immediately put on a leave of absence to manage the damage to the brand of the company. 

"Suhail has to conclusively prove to the board that he was not under the influence of alcohol and drugs when he put the said reply on LinkedIn... Moreover, Chairman Rajnish Kumar should immediately resign. The current incident clearly brings out the fact that Rajnish Kumar condoning the life threat to me by Bhavik Koladiya from his own house and all the planned media leaks leading to my resignation in self-respect, have further emboldened the current management to act like hooligans” 

BharatPe issues official statement 

However, in a statement, BharatPe denied the social media comments alleging that the company has not paid salaries to its employees.

"BharatPe strongly denies any social media comments which suggest that the company has not paid salaries to its employees. All the employees of the company have been paid their March salary in full. As per the company policy, employees serving their notice period will receive their full and final settlement amount in the due course as per company policy,” BharatPe's official statement read.

Grover was ousted from all responsibilities by the BharatPe board last month after an audit report revealed major governance violations during his tenure. "Mr Grover is no longer an employee, a founder, or a director of the company as a result of his misdeeds," the board stated in a statement.

Grover resigned as managing director and a director on the company's board of directors the day before, following a two-month-long controversy. Also, it is pertinent to mention that Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover were accused of financial irregularities. They "grossly misused" company expense accounts to support their extravagant lives, according to BharatPe.