Delhi High Court Orders Cancellation Of Lookout Circular Against Ashneer Grover & His Wife In BharatPe Fraud Case

The Delhi High Court has ordered cancellation of a Look-out Circular (LOC) against Ashneer Grover, the former Managing Director of online payment app 'BharatPe' and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover in a fraud case.

The Court took note of the fact that the FIR lodged against the Grovers with regard to the allegations of cheating and forgery has already been quashed.

A Single Bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula said, "Although the copy of the order (quashing the FIR) is not available as of now, the aforenoted fact is not disputed by the counsel for the parties. ... In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by respondent No. 3 (Bureau of Immigration), in the opinion of the court, will not survive."

In this case, the LOC was issued by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Delhi Police in view of the investigation against the accused persons in the cheating and forgery FIR. The Court was dealing with a plea moved by Grovers, seeking quashing of the LOC issued against them. The FIR was quashed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh of the High Court after hearing a plea moved by them saying that they have arrived at a settlement with the fintech company.

Earlier, the accused couple had contended that they were informed about the LOC for the first time when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the United States. Post their detention, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023. In May 2023, the EOW filed an FIR against the said couple and others under Sections 406, 420, 467, 468, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for an alleged Rs. 81 crore fraud after a complaint was lodged by BharatPe. 

Accordingly, the High Court disposed of the Petitions and directed the authorities to cancel the LOC against the Grovers. 

With PTI Inputs