IndiGo Promoter Rahul Bhatia moves US Courts against Gangwal and Khanna

IndiGo Co-Founder and Group Managing Director of InterGlobe Enterprises (IGE Group) Rahul Bhatia Wednesday moved US Courts against Partner Rakesh Gangwal and Independent director Anupam Khanna.

Bhatia has filed a lawsuit against Gangwal and Khanna in Florida and Maryland Courts to seek information regarding shareholders' agreement between IndiGO, IGE Enterprises, the Bhatia Family and Gangwal.

This development comes a fortnight after Bhatia submitted an Arbitration request before the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) against Gangwal.

"The cases in the US Courts are related to IGE Group seeking production of documents (from Gangwal) pertaining to the period prior to the Shareholders' Agreement (SHA), among other things," sources told.

They further said that the records may be used during arbitration to support Bhatia's case concerning the alleged violation of SHA. The shareholders' agreement which was signed in April 2015 will expire in Nov this year.

Gangwal is assumed to have discoverable information in relation to the claims that form the LCIA arbitration's subject matter. The report also quoted Bhatia's Florida case he filed on that day.

"Specifically, the requested documents and information relate to events, time periods and relationships which members of the RG Group exploited to mount their campaign to dilute the critical controlling rights of InterGlobe Enterprises and the Bhatias," the report stated citing the suit.

Gangwal in July this year had first complained to the Securities and Exchange Board of India alleging that Bhatia had indulged in questionable related-party transactions.

According to him, the shareholders' agreement provides Bhatia unusual controlling rights over IndiGo. He stated that the company "started veering off" from the core principles and values of governance that made the company what it was today.

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