Delhi Police bars Ashneer Grover, wife from travelling abroad as guest speakers

Ashneer Grover, the former Managing Director of BharatPe, has been denied permission to travel to the UK later this month with his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover. The Delhi police rejected their request to travel abroad as guest speakers at the London School of Economics (LSE) and the University of Warwick, citing an ongoing investigation into alleged financial misconduct, reported The Indian Express.

The Delhi police’s Economic Offences Wing’s (EOW) investigation officer received a representation request from the ex-BharatPe MD and his wife seeking permission to travel abroad in the last week of February. They requested travel permission for the UK from March 9 to 15 as guest speakers at the LSE and the University of Warwick, among others, as per sources. 

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“After reviewing their representation, the investigation officer denied the permission,” The Indian Express quoted an informed source, as saying. 

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In May last year, the EOW had registered an FIR against the Grovers and other family members for alleged misappropriation of funds and causing losses worth ₹81 crore to Resilient Innovations Private Limited.

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The EOW registered an FIR under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

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“Correspondence between me and EOW is confidential and as per court’s directives… I will continue to cooperate with police in this open-and-shut case and keep winning in Court. I’ve not got any correspondence regarding the travel permission (which is a confidential correspondence) as yet from EOW,” The Indian Express quoted Ashneer Grover as saying.

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The couple was stopped at the Indira Gandhi International Airport—Terminal 3 on November 16, 2023, when they were to travel to the US. They were informed that a Look-out Circular (LOC) had been issued against them that had been in effect since November 6.

Seeking to quash the LOC, the duo approached the Delhi High Court. On February 1, Justice Subramonium Prasad stated that the investigation in the case registered by the EOW is at a nascent stage and listed the matter for hearing on May 8. “It is too hot in the day for this court to intervene now. Come after some time. The investigation is at a nascent stage and they will take some time to investigate,” the High Court had said.

However, Justice Subramonium Prasad said that the petitioners’ application to travel abroad for two days may be considered by the authorities concerned based on the facts of the case.