New Delhi, Feb 1: Payment app BharatPe's former MD Ashneer Grover and his wife on Thursday approached the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against them in connection with the investigation in a cheating and forgery case.
Justice Subramonium Prasad, before whom the matter came up for hearing, listed it for May 8 saying the investigation in the case registered by the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is at a nascent stage.
"It is too hot in the day for this court to intervene now. Come after sometime. The investigation is at a nascent stage and they will take some time to investigate," the high court said.
It further said that at this juncture, it will not be correct to say that the LOC is completely unjustified.
As an interim relief, Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover have sought suspension of the LOC issued against them with a further direction to the authorities not to interfere with or prevent their right to travel abroad.
The court asked the authorities concerned to consider the application of the two petitioners for permission to travel abroad for two days.
It also noted that Grovers' plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged by the EOW is also pending in the high court.
The counsel representing the Grover couple submitted that they have cooperated with the investigation and there are multiple proceedings against them.
They sought quashing of the LOC on the ground that it was unwarranted as the petitioners were regularly appearing before the investigating officer and cooperating in the investigation.
They were informed for the first time that LOC was issued against them when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the US.
After being detained, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023.
In May last year, the EOW filed an FIR against Grover, his wife Madhuri and others under eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 and 468 (forgery) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) for an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud after a complaint by fintech unicorn BhartPe.
BharatPe in the complaint alleged that Grover and his family caused damages of about Rs 81.3 crore through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri and destruction of evidence.
Madhuri was the head of controls at BharatPe and was fired in 2022 after a forensic audit revealed several irregularities. Subsequently, Grover resigned as CEO in March 2022.
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Copenhagen (Denmark), Sep 9: There's no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway's coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said on Monday.
The tame beluga, which was first spotted in 2019 not far from Russian waters with a harness reading “Equipment St. Petersburg", was found floating at the Risavika Bay in southern Norway on August 31.
Experts examined the carcass at a nearby harbour, after lifting it with a crane.
Animal advocate groups OneWhale and NOAH last week filed a police report saying that the animal's wounds suggested it was intentionally killed. OneWhale founder Regina Haug said when she saw the carcass, she “immediately knew he had been killed by gunshots”.
That's not the conclusion so far from veterinarians.
Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as “Hvaldimir", combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot," police said in a statement.
Most of the animal's visible wounds were “completely superficial” with one of them “somewhat deeper” but not fatal or affecting vital organs, police said. An x-ray found no projectiles and no indication that the wounds could have been caused by gunshots, the statement said.
However, a stick about 35 centimeters (14 inches) long and 3 centimeters (1 inch) wide was found wedged in the animal's mouth, and its stomach was empty and its organs had broken down, police said. No further details were given.
“There is nothing in the investigations that have been carried out to establish that it is human activity that has directly led to Hvaldimir's death," said Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and environment section of the police in South Western Norway.
Revheim said that police will not be actively investigating the case and that the final autopsy report will released later this month.
The two animal rights groups said on Monday they're not satisfied with the preliminary results and want the police investigation to continue, offering 50,000 kroner (USD 4,661) for any tips that could reopen the case.
The 4.2-metre (14-foot) long and 1,225-kilogram (2,700-pound) whale was first spotted by fishermen near the northern island of Ingoeya, not far from the Arctic town of Hammerfest.
Its harness, along with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera, led to media speculation that it was a "spy whale”. Over the years since 2019, it was seen in several Norwegian coastal towns and it became clear it was very tame and enjoyed interacting with people.
Experts say the Russian navy is known to have trained whales for military purposes. Media reports also have speculated that the whale might have been trained as a therapy animal.