Withers provides litigation win for tech client Innoverv

International law firm Withers has assisted technology company Innoverv Global Solutions Limited in a dispute with shareholder Anindya Mitra. In conclusion to the dispute, the English Commercial Court has sentenced Mr Mitra to 12 months' imprisonment for persistent and deliberate contempt of court – specifically, repeated breaches of anti-suit injunctions made by the court.

Innoverv is a fast-growing technology and AI consulting company incorporated in England and Wales and with subsidiaries in the USA and India. The firm entered into a shareholders' agreement with Mr Mitra which contained an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the English courts. Following Mr Mitra's resignation, a dispute arose over the return of his shares and his breach of restrictive covenants by taking up work with a competitor. 

Rather than engaging with proceedings in the English courts, Mr Mitra commenced litigation in India in direct breach of the parties agreed jurisdiction clause. Withers then moved quickly to obtain:

• An interim anti-suit injunction in December 2025, restraining Mr Mitra from pursuing the Indian proceedings; and
• A permanent anti-suit injunction from in January 2026.

'Mr Mitra's response to both orders was one of open defiance. He continued to prosecute the Indian proceedings, sought extensions of injunctive relief from the Indian courts, filed further applications expressly designed to undermine the English orders, and publicly described those orders in contemptuous terms. His knowledge of the English court's orders was beyond doubt – he referenced them in the very applications he made in India in breach of them," comments Stephen Ross, litigation partner at Withers.

At the committal hearing the court found all alleged contempts proven to the criminal standard. The judge described Mr Mitra's conduct as "repeated and continuing contempt, deliberate in the full sense of the word', noting that such behaviour 'strikes at the administration of justice.' He sentenced Mr Mitra to 12 months' imprisonment, concluding that only a custodial sentence was appropriate and that there were no circumstances justifying suspension of that sentence. A costs order was also made in Innoverv's favour.

The Withers team was led by Stephen Ross and employment partner Meriel Schindler, supported by litigation associate Jamie Brown and trainee Millie Dickson. Withers instructed Ashley Cukier of Fountain Court Chambers.

The Withers team also worked closely with Innoverv's Counsel in India: Nandini Khaitan, Vidush Sinha, Pratik Shanu and Mehul Bachhawat of Khaitan & Co.