15/9124, 10:51 AM ‘Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery f an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times ome shine Maraets News Industry ise Poltce wes Mutual Funds Teen Careets Opinion NRI Panache ET TV Spotoht +1 — DispuTEs Ashneer Grover, BharatPe and the mystery of an out-of-court settlement Synopsis Early this week, there was a courtroom arama involving Ashneer Grover ana his former emsleyer BharatPe, While the ‘counsels representing tne forme climed a settlement between the wo partes wasn the Wares tre lster utrigntly denied, What exactly happened? ET Prime does deep dive Ina surprise twist to the bitter public fight between BharatPe and its ousted co-founder Ashneer Grover, the latter's counsels in the court claimed ‘that both parties were settling the matter out of -ntps:feconomictmes indiatimes. com/primetechnology-and-startupsiashnees-grover-bharatpe-andathe-mystery--an-outof-court-setvementprimea.... 1/135/9124, 10:51 AM [Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery af an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times Home Mariets News Industry Rise Poles Wath Mutual Funds Ten Careers Opinion NRL Panache ETTV welv SHOICIIveU WILIF BHaLatre eHIpraLICanly rejecting such proposals. Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, who were ‘unceremoniously ousted from BharatPe two years ago, are defending themselves against the charges of financial misappropriation levelled against them by ‘the company. A Delhi High Court order nine days ago gave rise to the possibility of a reconciliation between the parties after two years of public mudslinging. ‘The Delhi HC order dated April 29 read: “An adjournment is sought on the grounds that parties are seeking an amicable settlement.” Following this, when ET Prime reached out to BharatPe seeking to verify this unexpected turn of events in its very public and acrimonious squabble with Grover, the company dismissed any reconciliatory talk. MORE STORIES FOR YOU BharatPe's CEO hunt is over, but not its search for stability How this key Emaar India project landed in an INR900 crore dispute ‘Why this blockchain firm headed by ex Paytm CFO is facing employee backlash, “The BharatPe board strongly denies that it has entered into any discussions of an out-of-court settlement with Ashneer Grover, Madhuri Jain Grover and other related parties. The company has taken legal action in December 2022, and we have full faith in the judicial process, We are confident ‘that justice will be served. In fact, three days after the HC order stated about the settlement talks between the company and, ntps:feconomictines indiatimes convprimeltechnology-and-startupsiashn: rover bharatpe-and-the-mystery-of-an-outot-court-setlementiprimea.... 21135/9124, 10:51 AM [Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery af an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times Home Mariets News Industry Rise Poles Wath Mutual Funds Ten Careers Opinion NRL Panache ETTV ‘The courtroom drama ‘The company’s lawyers informed the court in their application dated May 2 that they had no instructions from their client on the matter of settlement negotiations. ‘They further said that their submission was not recorded on April 29. As a consequence, it gave a ‘wrong impression that the parties inter-se are exploring an amicable settlement..there is no settlement being explored,” they stated. So, why did the Delhi HC adjourn proceedings citing settlement negotiations? Where did the idea of, reconciliation come from? And what happened to it? It was BharatPe’s letter to Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) a month ago, that gave credence to the settlement talks. Grover's counsel Giriraj Subramanium brought to the notice of the court BharatPe's moves in this direction. On May 6 (Monday), in the court of Justice Manoj Xumar Ohri, in response to the application submitted by BharatPe, Subramanium highlighted this again, He quoted a letter written to SIAC by BharatPe stating that the two parties were in the process of settlement. “Before the SIAC, itis the complainant who has written a letter saying that we are in the process of settlement. Ihave that letter with me. I have the order of Justice (LN) Rao who is the presiding arbitrator of the SIAC tribunal saying please update us about the settlement,” Subramanium argued in the court on May 6. ntps:feconomicties indiatimes, conprimeltechnology-and-startupsiashn: rover bharatpe-and-the.mystery-of-an-autot-courtsetlementprimea... 335/9124, 10:51 AM ‘Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery of an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times Home Mariets News Industly Rise Poles Wealth Mutual funds Ten Careers Opinion NRI_ Panache ETTV pa, Surfin por pn re Legal twists and turns ‘The BharatPe side seems to maintain that these two cases ~ the one in the Delhi HC and the other in the Singapore arbitration court — should be viewed as separate legal matters, In HC, the case is about the financial misappropriation charges against Grover and his wife while the arbitration in SIACis to claw back from him unvested stocks totaling 14% of BharatPe shares. According to a source privy to the development, this, letter dated April 11 was written by Krishna ‘Tangirala, senior associate of Shardul Amarchand ‘Mangaldas, the law firm that has been advising BharatPe. The letter was sent on behalf of the “claimant and respondent’ In response to the letter, Justice Rao, who is the arbitrator in the dispute, granted time till June 10 to negotiate the settlement. Justice Rao’s letter is marked to over a dozen people including Pallavi Shroff, joint managing partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, as well as Aanchal Aggarwal, the company secretary and legal executive of BharatPe, besides Grover. But BharatPe counsels in court this week took a position that the settlement negotiations had nothing to do with the case in Delhi HC. “My learned friend made a statement that there is a settlement between the parties and an adjournment is sought. This is untrue as far as this case is, A ntps:feconomictines indiatimes convprimeltechnology-and-startupsiashn: rover bharatpe-and-the-mystery-of-an-autot-cour-setlementiprimea.... 4/135/9124, 10:51 AM [Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery af an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times Home Mariets News Industry Rise Poles Wath Mutual Funds Ten Careers Opinion NRL Panache ETTV {OTHALIDIF OLUCeTy WW SLA Ue HIVES YAUION, Sale ‘Share memberony stores senior advocate Vikas Pahwa while representing Teenie ee nap thor ea or free BharatPe. v Gift This Story Justice Ohri modified his April 29 order stating that no settlement was in progress and the case was to be notified on the given date. “By way of present application, the applicant seeks nl modification of the order dated 29.04.2024 to the Rate This Story extent that no settlement talks are in progress,” reads the order copy dated May 6. However, Justice Ohri remarked that he had not stopped anyone from having a settlement. “Your efforts can continue,” he said while modifying the order in favour of BharatPe. ‘The timingis crucial ‘The mention ofa settlement raised curiosity not just because it was an unexpected twist in the tale but also because it comes at an interesting time. This latest development coincides with BharatPe's fundraising moves. ‘The fintech company is trying to raise USD100 million and has held talks with venture-capital firms like Tribe Capital, among others. ‘Also, if some sources at the company are to be believed, this could be a pure economic consideration given that pursuing arbitration in. SIAC is very expensive. If the two parties move on, with a successful negotiation on this matter, Grover will likely surrender his 1.4% non-vested stake in the company. “Arbitration at SIACis an independent matter ‘which has nothing to do with (EOW) FIR. Even if the ‘two parties resolve it, it would have no bearing on the FIR," said one of the sources quoted above. As of now, there's a look-out notice issued by the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against Grover and his wife. The two of them cannot travel outside the country. (On March 2, 2022, in a strongly worded statement, ntps:feconomictines indiatimes convprimeltechnology-and-startupsiashn: rover bharatpe-and-the-mystery-of-an-autot-courtsetlementprimea.... 5/1315/9124, 10:51 AM ‘Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery f an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times Home Mariets News Industry Rise Poles Wealth Mutual funds Ten Careers Opinion NRI_ Panache ETTV TeIaLlves WELe ELIgAEE TI EXCENSIVE misappropriation” of company funds. It added that they created fake vendors through which they siphoned money away from the company and grossly abused the company's expense accounts. Subsequently in May 2023, EOW of the Delhi Police registered a first information report (FIR) against Grover and members of his family. ‘The FIR mentioned eight counts of ‘cognizable criminal offences" including criminal breach of trust (Section 408), cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property (Section 420) and forgery of a valuable security (Section 467), among others. BharatPe also filed a civil suit against the Grovers in the Delhi HC and approached the SIAC seeking to claw back co-founder Grover's restricted shareholding in the company. Separately, BharatPe's other co-founders, Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya, also filed lawsuits against Grover in the Delhi HC over share disputes. Grover was regarded as the third co-founder of BharatPe, a company which was originally founded by Bhavik Koladiya and Sashwat Nakrani in 2017. Grover was roped in a few months later while the company was looking for a chief executive officer. As per the cap table post Series E round reviewed by ET Prime, Grover owns an 8.43% stake in BharatPe. Grover refused to comment for the story as the matter is sub-judice. (Graphic by Mohammad Arshad) STRATEGY ntps:feconomictines indiatimes convprimeltechnology-and-startupsiashn: rover bharatpe-and-the-mystery-of-an-autot-cour-setlementiprimea... 6/13‘519/24, 10:51 AM ‘Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery f an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times pricey for Bharat? ‘SpaceX has launched around 6000 srnalllow-earth-orbt satelite and plans to take the count ta 34,000, establishing Stalink asthe largest sacom service to provide brosabend eapablltles Including videacall and arline gaming even most remote locations At nightfall on April 6, SpaceX’s Starlink project once again took flight over the California skyline a with the launch of 21 more broadband satellites, sparking a glimmer of hope for an Internet revolution in India. The successful deployment of uns nosh, cxey pba these satellites would bring the India's telecom yo 20260 industry a step closer to providing high-speed, reliable Internet coverage even in the country's remote and underserved regions. mses cerca ‘While SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s much-awaited India visits later this month may have hita roadblock, the potential for high-speed Internet, access across the country’s vast and diverse terrains seems to be within reach, promising to be a game changer for millions currently grappling with nitoslleconomictines indiatimes. comiorimeitechnology-and-statupsiashneer-grover-bharatpe-and-the-mystery-af-an-outof-cout-settementiorinea..._ 7/135/9124, 10:51 AM [Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery af an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times Home Mariets News Industry Rise Poles Wath Mutual Funds Ten Careers Opinion NRI Panache ETTV Yet, as the dust settles over Musk’s visit, an important question emerges: Can Starlink’s premium satellite-communication service address India’s connectivity challenges, particularly in the rural areas? Or will it be another expensive Hite constellation in the sky catering to the privileged few? Cost of connectivity Launched in May 2019, Starlink is a mega constellation of satellites built by SpaceX to deliver high-speed Internet access to remote and underserved areas where laying fiber optic cables is costly or challenging It utilises a network of thousands of small satellites orbiting earth at a much lower altitude of around 550 km) as against geostationary satellites’ 35,786 km to achieve low. latency of 25 milliseconds per km which is at par with that of fiber optic cables (FOC). Setting the service up in countries where Starlink has a presence costs a one-time equipment fee of USD499 (INR42,000) or more for the user terminal (dish), mounting tripod, and Wi-Fi router. Additionally, there is a monthly subscription fee of USD99-USDI50 (INR8,000-INR12,000) for the Internet service, MORE STORIES FOR YOU How long before OpenAl and Google askyou to pay up? No plane, no gain: How Go First became less attractive to bidders ‘With WeWork US quitting India, can Awfis make the space its own? As per media reports, the company's former India head revealed that in the first year the total cost for Starlink’s service in the country may amount to approximately INRLS8,000, including the one-time purchase of the user equipment worth around ntps:feconomicties indiatimes, conprimeltechnology-and-startupsiashn: rover bharatpe-and-the-mystery-of-an-autot-courtsetlementiprimea.... 81135/9124, 10:51 AM [Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery af an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times Home Mariets News Industry Rise Poles Wath Mutual Funds Ten Careers Opinion NRL Panache ETTV TINEC/ 429; FIUNI UIE SECONU Year VLWALUS; UNE BUIIUR service cost will be around INR1,15,000 including tax. In comparison, the initial installation cost for an FOC-based Internet connection can range from INRI,000-INR5,000, while monthly plans can start from INR700 and go up to INR10,000 or more depending on the speed and data limit. SpaceX has launched around 6,000 small low-earth- orbit satellites and plans to take the count to 34,000, establishing Starlink as the largest satcom service to provide broadband capabilities including videocalls and online gaming even in the most remote locations of the world. Currently, the service is available only in certain regions of the US, UK, Canada, and some European countries. In 2023, Reliance’s JioSpace Fibre said it will bring in an Indian version of the satellite-based Internet service. In partnership with Luxembourg-based SES, Jio started rolling out the service on a trial basis, last, year in locations including Gir in Gujarat and Korba in Chhattisgarh, Itis speculated that Jio may price its offering between INRI,500-INR2,000 per month. Starlink’s pricing plans are likely to remain higher than the traditional options, at least initially, and affordability for rural users in the country will be a key factor in its success, ntps:feconomicties indiatimes, conprimeltechnology-and-startupsiashn: rover bharatpe-and-the-mystery-of-an-outot-courtsetlementiprimea.... 135/9124, 10:51 AM [Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery af an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times Home Mariets News Industry Rise Poles Wath Mutual Funds Ten Careers. Opinion NRI_ Panache ETTV ‘Advantage FOC India is home to diverse and extreme weather conditions including heavy rains and snow which often disrupt Internet signal. Additionally, the satellite constellation is still under development and technical issues can occur. In this context, FOC appears to be a better choice. Laying FOC requires significant upfront investment, but long-term costs are lower as compared to the expenses incurred in maintaining and replacing satellites. Additionally, FOC can provide high-speed Internet access to remote areas that may not have a clear line-of-sight to satellites, making them a more accessible option. As per reports, the nationwide coverage of FOC between 2014 and 2019 roughly doubled to 1.4 million km. The Indian FOC market has witnessed impressive growth. As per estimates, it has clocked a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 19.7% between 2019 and 2024, reaching a market value of USD2.1 billion as of 2024. RailTel Corporation, a public-sector undertaking, has been instrumental in building the FOC network in the country, especially in remote areas while government projects such as BharatNet (formerly National Optical Fibre Network) aim to connect, gram panchayats with high-speed Internet. This initiative, along with the Digital India programme, prioritises expanding the FOC infrastructure within the country. ntps:feconomicties indiatimes, conprimeltechnology-and-startupsiashn: rover bharatpe-and-the-mystery-of-an-autot-courtsetlementprime... 101135/9124, 10:51 AM [Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery af an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times Home Mariets News Industly Rise Poles Wealth Mutual Funds Ten Careers Opinion NRL Panache ETTV Competitive space In India, Starlink faces additional competition from French satellite operator Eutelsat, OneWeb's local subsidiary OneWeb India which is supported by Bharti Group, and Jio Satellite Communications ‘which has access to the latest medium earth orbit- satellite technology capable of offering gigabit, FOC- like service from the space. OneWeb has already begun trials after receiving authorisation from Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) in. November 2023 to launch commercial satellite broadband services in India, while Jio is awaiting the green signal. Project Kuiper, the satellite communications division of Amazon, is also applying for a GMPCS [global mobile personal communication by satellite] licence in India. Despite being a late entrant, Starlink had applied for the GMPCS licence in November 2022 and had even opened pre-booking. channels in India in 2021 but had to return around 5,000 booking advances as it was not a licensed. entity in the country. In anticipation of Musk’s April 22 India visit, the government had reportedly expedited Starlink’s licence approval process to clear regulatory hurdles. ‘The final cut Indeed, Starlink has huge potential to revolutionise Internet access in India, However, its success hinges on three salient factors: ntps:feconomicties indiatimes, conprimeltechnology-and-startupsiashn: rover bharatpe-and-the-mystery-of-an-outot-courtsetlementiprime.. 11/1315/9/24, 10:51 AM [Ashneor Grover, BharatPe and the mystery af an out-of-court settlement - The Economic Times ex UVELCONIILIY AOLUADUILY COUCELTIS: #2. Ensuring resilience under extreme and diverse ‘weather conditions. #3, Gaining traction in a competitive landscape. Clearly, the race is on, and all eyes are on Starlink Can it take the lead? 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