INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ashneer Grover has lost arbitration against BharatPe's governance reviewNew Delhi: BharatPe co-founder and managing director Ashneer
Grover has lost an arbitration that he had filed against the company's investigation against him, with an emergency arbitrator holding
that there was no ground to stop governance review at the fintech firm, sources said.Mr Grover, who last month went on a two-month leave of
absence following allegations of using abusive language against Kotak Mahindra Bank staff and fraudulent practices, had filed an arbitration
plea with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) claiming the company's investigation against him was illegal.The emergency
arbitrator (EA) has, however, rejected all the five grounds of his appeal and denied a single relief, sources with direct knowledge of the
development said.While BharatPe declined to comment as the matter was sub judice, Grover could not be immediately reached for comments.Mr
Grover had pleaded before the arbitrator that the preliminary investigation was invalid because it was in violation of shareholder agreement
and articles of association and the company has no authority to conduct such an investigation.He had termed all appointments for the
independent audit of the company's internal processes and systems as bad in law.He had alleged that the members of the committee reviewing
governance processes, such as company CEO Suhail Sameer and the company's general counsel Sumeet Singh, seemed to be biased.Also, "the
appointment of Suhail Sameer as a director be kept in abeyance, and he be restrained from discharging any functions as director of the
company", Mr Grover had said in the plea which also sought that no action be taken against him.Sources said EA rejected all the five grounds
of relief.On the claim of bias, the EA said that Grover's claim did not seem reliable or credible because until week back both Mr Suhail
and Mr Sumeet were among the best employees and everything was great about them.Also, everything the company has done is as per law and
governance norms so there is no need to change anything, the EA noted, outrightly rejecting all contentions and giving no relief to
Grover.Mr Grover can challenge the arbitrator's order before the Delhi High Court, sources said.In his plea, Mr Grover alleged that
despite numerous representations/ objections, BharatPe deliberately kept the review and assessment by the review committee an opaque process
and gave him no chance to present his case.The first hearing on the arbitration happened on February 20 and the EA passed the order a couple
of days back, the sources said.Mr Grover was represented by Karanjawala - Co, while BharatPe was represented by senior counsel Abhishek
Singhvi.In statements this month, Mr Grover called for removal of Mr Sameer
But the removal of the CEO as a director will require the consent of BharatPe co-founder Shashvat Nakrani.Further, Mr Grover had sought that
the present review panel should be dissolved, and a new 'lawful committee' should be constituted to assess and conduct an all-encompassing
review of the affairs of BharatPe.A preliminary internal investigation has pegged the magnitude of the financial misconduct at over Rs 50
BharatPe has engaged a law firm and risk advisory consultant to conduct a more detailed investigation after allegations of financial
irregularities, sources said.PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) alongside Alvarez - Marsal (A-M) are doing the audit
That review threw up alleged misuse of funds by Madhuri Jain, head of controls at BharatPe and wife of Mr Grover.Ms Jain, who helmed
procurement, finance and human resources from the company's early days, was fired following the review.Developments around its
controversial founder have been snowballing at BharatPe ever since the emergence of an audio clip in which Mr Grover is allegedly heard
threatening an employee of Kotak Wealth Management over his failure to secure financing for Nykaa's initial share sale
On January 19, Mr Grover was sent on voluntary leave of absence for two months till March-end.
