New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday denied the request to halt the investigation against Ashneer Grover, co-founder of BharatPe, and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover in a case involving an alleged fraud of Rs 81 crore, media reports said.

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani also declined to order the investigating officer to provide advance notice to the couple if their custody was sought, instead advising them to file an anticipatory bail application.

The case was filed by the fintech unicorn BharatPe against its co-founder.

The judge issued a notice on the petition filed by Grover and his wife, seeking to dismiss the FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police.

The court also requested the investigating agency and BharatPe, the complainant, to present their positions.

The court also issued a notice regarding the application to stay the investigation.

“No case is made out at least at this stage for staying investigation in the matter. So far as advance written notice of arrest is concerned, petitioners are at liberty to adopt other remedies available to them in accordance with law,” the court said, reported NDTV.

“File section 438 (of CrPC for anticipatory bail). Why should I get into my inherent power when there is a statutory power,” the court stated.

The counsel representing the petitioners argued that the FIR was filed with malicious intent and the allegations raised concerned GST and the management of the company, which, as directors, they were authorized to handle without any criminality.

It was asserted that the petitioners played a significant role in developing the company into a multi-crore enterprise, and no fraudulent activities were flagged by the statutory auditors.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) filed the FIR earlier this year, invoking eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 406 for criminal breach of trust, Section 420 for cheating and dishonesty, and Sections 467 and 468 for forgery.

In the complaint lodged by BharatPe, it was alleged that Ashneer Grover and his family inflicted a loss of approximately Rs 81.3 crore through various illegal activities.

They allegedly made payments to fictitious human resource consultants, inflated and unwarranted payments through vendors associated with the accused, fraudulent transactions related to input tax credit and penalties to GST authorities, unauthorized payments to travel agencies, forgery of invoices by Madhuri Jain, and destruction of evidence.