In a brief statement on Thursday, 28 March, Paytm said that former executive Sonia Dhawan, who was jailed for allegedly trying to extort money from founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, is not rejoining the organisation until ongoing proceedings are not over, the company said in a statement.
This comes a day after the daily had reported that Dhawan might be rejoining as she was spotted in the office premises over the course of the week.
The report further said that the statement from the company has come after investors had questioned Dhawan’s presence in the offices.
Sonia Dhawan, who was jailed for allegedly being an accomplice in an extortion bid against Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, was earlier reported to be back on the company’s roster.
A Moneycontrol report, quoting sources, had said that Dhawan, who spent nearly five months in jail with husband Rupak Jain, was “reintroduced to senior executives” of Paytm. The report said that she was reinstated as the Vice President of Corporate Communications/Public Relations.
Meanwhile, The Economic Times had also reported the development, saying that she has already rejoined “earlier this week”.
Dhawan was a long-term secretary of Sharma’s and was later promoted to the VP’s post at Paytm. She was arrested on 22 October last year, along with her husband and another Paytm employee, Devendra Kumar, for allegedly trying to extort Rs 20 crore from Sharma.
They were released on bail by the Allahabad High Court, earlier this month.
In its order, the High Court had noted, “There is no active role assigned to the applicant. Suppositional charges have been levelled, which allegations cannot stand concrete. The applicant being lady may be given advantage of provisions contained under Section-437 of the CrPC”.
The fourth accused in the case, Rohit Chomwal, who allegedly made the extortion calls on behest of Dhawan, had managed a stay on his arrest. Apparently, Chomwal had named Dhawan, Jain and Kumar, Moneycontrol reported.
Following her arrest, Dhawan's lawyers had said that the promoters of Paytm were pressurising her to sell her stake in the company, adding that the allegations were attempts at framing her.
(With inputs from Economic Times and Moneycontrol)
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