Supreme Court dismisses appeal against Bombay HC verdict on WeWork India IPO

New Delhi [India], March 16 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a Special Leave Petition challenging the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of WeWork India at the admission stage.A bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe declined to interfere with the Bombay High Court’s judgment dated December 1, 2025, which had earlier dismissed separate writ petitions filed by Hemant Kulshreshta and Vinay Bansal challenging the public offering.The appeal before the apex court was filed by Hemant Kulshreshta. During the hearing, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the company had allegedly failed to disclose certain criminal proceedings relating to its promoters in the offer documents.Opposing the plea, Senior Advocate Darius Khambata, appearing for WeWork India, submitted that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), as the statutory regulator, had examined and approved the offer documents in its capacity as an expert regulatory authority. After hearing the submissions, the Court dismissed the appeal.In its earlier judgment dated December 1, 2025, the Bombay High Court had dismissed the writ petitions challenging the IPO process. The High Court had also imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh on one of the petitioners, Vinay Bansal, and recorded that certain material facts had not been disclosed before the Court, including the company’s responses to complaints that formed the basis of the challenge. The Court had also observed that the conduct of the petitioners raised doubts regarding their bona fides.Court records show that the petitions before the High Court were filed on September 30, 2025, shortly before the IPO opened, although the draft prospectus had been available in the public domain for several months. Neither of the petitioners was an investor in the public offering.A separate petition filed by Rishab Agarwal after the IPO had closed was later withdrawn unconditionally before the Bombay High Court without liberty to file a fresh plea. That petition relied on complaints filed by Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Limited, which is involved in separate commercial litigation with another company of the Embassy Group.Following the Supreme Court’s order, a spokesperson for WeWork India said the Court dismissed the appeal at the first hearing and accepted the submissions made on behalf of the company that SEBI had examined and approved the offer documents in its capacity as the expert regulatory authority. The spokesperson stated that no relief was granted to the petitioner and that the order brings to a close the last remaining challenge to the company’s public offering by Hemant Kulshreshta.The spokesperson further said the company had earlier welcomed the Bombay High Court’s judgment dismissing the petitions filed by Kulshreshta and Bansal, noting that the High Court had recorded findings regarding suppression of material facts and imposed costs on one of the petitioners. According to the statement, the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the appeal at the first listing reinforces that the offer documents contained the required disclosures in compliance with applicable regulations.The spokesperson also stated that during the course of the litigation, the IPO had been oversubscribed and that the company has maintained stable market performance. The statement added that the conclusion of the proceedings reaffirms the strength of India’s securities regulatory framework and the role of courts in addressing disputes relating to public offerings. (ANI)