The Bombay High Court has restrained Vinayak Shrivastav, the former Chief Executive Officer of US-based Clippings LLC, from selling, transferring or creating third-party rights over his personal assets. [Clippings LLC & Ors. v. Vinayak Shrivastav & Ors.]
This directive came in a commercial suit filed by court-appointed caretakers (receivers) of Clippings, seeking to recover approximately ₹222.62 crore (around $23.27 million) allegedly siphoned off by Shrivastav and routed to his family members and affiliate entities.
Justice Arif Doctor held that the company had established a strong preliminary case of fraud.
The bench observed that refusing interim protection at this stage would be counterproductive.
"In my view, at this stage to deny the Plaintiffs the limited ad interim relief sought on the basis of the defences which have been raised would be to miss the wood for the trees and to ignore the elephant in the room," the Court said.
The allegation against Shrivastav is that he procured a $53.15 million loan from Park View SPV III in October 2025 using forged documents, including fabricated signatures and false bank records.
The company alleged that instead of using the loan to refinance earlier corporate debt owed to an investor named Bluestone, Shrivastav diverted tens of millions of dollars to himself, his family and related corporate entities.
The defendants argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the court-appointed receivers had suppressed material agreements and corporate emails.
Justice Doctor dismissed this defence, emphasising that Shrivastav had not confronted the core allegations.
"Defendant No. 1 has made no attempt in the Affidavit in Reply or in the oral contention to meet the most serious allegations of forgery and fabrication concerning the Credit Agreement," the judge said.
The Court noted that the plaintiffs were independent court officers acting without personal interest to safeguard the company.
"The very manner in which the Defendants have resisted making the disclosures only amplifies the need for the same," the judge said.
Under the directions, all defendants must submit sworn affidavits within ten days detailing their worldwide assets, bank accounts and six years of tax filings.
Senior advocate Venkatesh Dhond with advocates Rohaan Cama, Kyrus Modi, Prateek Katewa and Shailesh Korpe briefed by Cygnus Legal appeared for Clippings LLC.
Senior advocates Janak Dwarkadas and Zal Andhyarujina with advocates Ankit Lohia, Waseem Pangaonkar, Nadiya S, Chirag Naik, Aditi Tiwari, Vaijayanti S, Arurima, Sachin Singh and Rohan Bhatia briefed by MZM Legal LLP appeared for Shrivastava and affiliates.
[Read order]