(Reuters) – Two independent directors at embattled Gensol Engineering resigned, the company said on Thursday, marking the third exit this week after regulators accused its co-founders of misusing funds, including using money meant for an EV affiliate to buy a luxury apartment.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) this week barred Anmol Jaggi and his brother Puneet from the stock market and ordered a forensic audit of solar firm Gensol, which procured electric vehicles for BluSmart.
The popular ride-hailing service, seen as a rival to Uber, was co-founded by Anmol, who also serves as Gensol’s managing director.
Gensol on Thursday said in that Harsh Singh and Kuljit Singh Popli have resigned as independent directors with immediate effect.
This follows the resignation of Arun Menon, another independent director at Gensol.
Popli in his resignation letter said, “… the way things have unfolded and come to light, I am not in a position to continue as (an) Independent Director.”
“I was hopeful that the company that has grown so fast and had been enjoying good reputation and good will, will continue to grow… and governance issues as brought out will be addressed. However that has not happened,” Popli added.
BluSmart also said on Thursday it has suspended its operations with a decision to “temporarily close bookings” on its app.
Gensol, Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on SEBI’s accusations.
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
