Delhi Police Denies Permission To Ashneer Grover, Wife For Travelling Abroad: Report

In May of the previous year, the EOW filed an FIR against the Grovers and additional family members for purportedly misappropriating funds and inflicting losses on Resilient Innovations

Ashneer Grover, former Managing Director of BharatPe, along with his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, has been denied permission to travel to the UK later this month. 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, according to a report by The Indian Express.

The investigation officer of the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) received a representation request from the former Managing Director of BharatPe and his wife in the last week of February. They sought permission to travel abroad to the UK from March 9 to 15 to serve as guest speakers at institutions such as the London School of Economics (LSE) and the University of Warwick, among others, as per the report citing the sources.

“After reviewing their representation, the investigation officer denied the permission," The Indian Express reported, quoting a source. 

In May of the previous year, the EOW filed an FIR against the Grovers and additional family members for purportedly misappropriating funds and inflicting losses amounting to Rs 81 crore on Resilient Innovations Private Limited.

The EOW filed an FIR under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), encompassing 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).

“Correspondence between me and EOW is confidential and as per court’s directives… I will continue to cooperate with the 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," Ashneer Grover quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

On November 16, 2023, the couple was stopped at the Indira Gandhi International Airport—Terminal 3 while attempting to travel to the US. They were informed of a Look-out Circular (LOC) issued against them, effective since November 6.

Seeking to annul the LOC, the couple approached the Delhi High Court. On February 1, Justice Subramonium Prasad noted that the investigation into the case filed by the EOW was in its early stages and scheduled the hearing for 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," said the High Court.

Nevertheless, Justice Subramonium Prasad mentioned that the relevant authorities could evaluate the petitioners' request to travel overseas for two days, depending on the circumstances of the case.