Ankiti Bose the former CEO and the co-founder of Singapore-based fashion ecommerce startup, Zilingo has filed a Rs 820 crore defamation suit against Mahesh Murthy for an article published in March 1st issue of Outlook Business magazine, reported The Mint.
The article titled From Vulture Capital to Vitim Capital: Mahesh Murthy's Take on VCs in India according to Bose is a continuation of the three-year-old vendetta against her. A report by Inc42 states that the defamation suit was filed in the Bombay High Court through law firm Singhania and Co LLP.
The case was filed on April 20 and is in the pre-admission stage. According to the details on the case on the court website as accessed by Inc42 states that Ankiti Bose is the petitioner and the article in question takes a strong dig at different startup founders without giving names and is holding them responsible for the drop in funding in the Indian start up ecosystem.
What does the article by Mahesh Murthy say?
The article written by the high-profile angel investor and Seedfund cofounder Mahesh Murthy wrote, "One lady ran a popular fashion portal and took Sequoia's money. She got her firm to pay her lawyers Rs 70 crore as fees and it is rumored she got a lot of that amount directly back to herself as a cut. She also got her firm to pay a public relations agency Rs 10 crore a year to have her profile appear as a glamorous CEO."
Bose's response
Bose in a statement said that the article consists of 'litany of lies, distortions and venomous claims.' She further went on to say that having privilege of a public platform should have a sense of responsibility. She said that Murthy's opinion piece depicts the sexist attitude and gossipy innuendo that holds back women founders from achieving their true potential.
Bose suspended by Zilingo
Bose was suspended by Zilingo in April last year after a series of allegations about impropriety raised by anonymous whistleblower in Zilingo. After that more reports came up showing that both the co-founders Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor were at odds when making business decisions. After this Bose also claimed that the Zilingo board and Sequoia Capital India were making attempts to remove her from the company. However she has not yet been able to prove the allegations.
