Four years later, Sachin Bansal is still battling eight lawsuits from his Flipkart days

• Walmart had acquired Flipkart for a whopping $16 billion, giving exits to both founders Sachin and Binny Bansal.
• Sachin Bansal went on to found his financial products and services company Navi Technologies, which is now looking to go public.
• Yet Sachin Bansal is still dealing with eight lawsuits related to his tenure at the ecommerce titan Flipkart.

It has almost been four years since Sachin Bansal formally gave up all leadership responsibilities of Flipkart, yet he is still dealing with eight lawsuits related to his tenure at the ecommerce titan.

The draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) of Navi Technologies, Bansal’s latest entrepreneurial venture, revealed that there are currently thirteen lawsuits and litigations filed by or against the 40-year-old. While some of these matters are related to Bansal’s personal life, others are all around his stint at Flipkart.

The latest one of this is by Enforcement Directorate (ED), where the state-run financial investigation agency issued a show cause notice against Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal in July 2021. The agency asked both the founders why they shouldn't face a $1.35 billion penalty over alleged violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) between 2009 and 2015.

The notice was also sent to investors Accel, Tiger Global, Accel nominee director Subrata Mitra, and Tiger Global nominee director Lee Fixel, who had invested in Flipkart before it was acquired by Walmart in 2018.

In response, Sachin Bansal filed a writ petition before Madras High Court in August to challenge the show cause notice. The matter is currently pending before court. However, ED has not taken any steps in the matter so far.

“...If any adverse order is passed against the Promoter [in this matter], such outcome may have an adverse impact on the reputation of our Company and may also affect the business prospects of our Company [Navi],” the DRHP noted.

There are six matters where petitions have been filed against Flipkart between 2015 to 2021, where Bansal has been made a party “due to his past associations with Flipkart”, the DRHP read. “Our Promoter has not received any notice or summons nor has any access currently to any information pertaining to these matters,” it further added.

Flipkart has also filed a case in Madhya Pradesh High Court against an individual. Bansal is mentioned as a petitioner. All these matters are currently pending in court.

US retail giant Walmart had acquired Flipkart for a whopping $16 billion, in exchange for 77% stake in the ecommerce giant, in May 2018. Sachin Bansal had exited the company soon after the acquisition, whereas Binny Bansal still holds around 2.4% in the company.

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