Ashok Rajagopal, former director of defunct e-commerce firm AskMe who represented the majority investor Malaysia’s Astro on the board, got interim bail on a case filed by one of the online sellers My Limo Trading Company. The seller had accused AskMe of not paying the company the money the latter had collected on its behalf from buyers for goods sold on the e-commerce platform.
Though Rajagopal was not in charge of day-to-day affairs at AskMe, My Limo filed a case against him since he had represented Astro, the 98.5% stakeholder in Getit Infoservice Pvt Ltd, the company that ran AskMe. Rajagopal had sought anticipatory bail in this case in the court of district and sessions judge, Patiala House, New Delhi, after a first information report (FIR) was registered against him on complaints filed by My Limo Trading Company.
My Limo claims AskMe owes the former around Rs 1.5 crore.
The court has ordered not to take any coercive action against Rajagopal till 8 January, when the bail application would again be considered. Rajagopal and Astro spokesperson did not respond to queries regarding the legal proceedings.
The legal imbroglio involving Astro and AskMe is getting more complex with another FIR being registered against former AskMe board members on a case filed by My Limo’s affiliate company EBiz International seeking Rs 2.5 crore of defaulted payments.
AskMe suspended operations and top management led by CEO Sanjiv Gupta left the company in August when Astro stopped funding the company. A number of sellers are now filing cases against former directors while Gupta and the investor Malaysian conglomerate Astro are slugging it out at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
NCLT has scheduled for hearing on the winding down petition moved by Astro along with several other petitions related to this matter for 12 December. Various parties including hundreds of online sellers and 4,000 unpaid employees of AskMe are awaiting the conclusion of the legal battle that was set off end-August following the collapse of talks regarding a management buyout.
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