Reacting to a report that a US court had directed Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu to post a $1.7 billion bond in his ongoing divorce case, Christopher C Melcher, his attorney, said the order was made a year ago on an emergency application by his estranged wife Pramila Srinivasan. The attorney said Pramila made outrageously false allegations against Sridhar and the California judge was “completely misled” by Pramila’s attorney, “who is not even licensed to practice law in California”.
Property dispute in California
California law treats properties acquired during the marriage as jointly owned, and that is the main dispute in Vembu’s divorce. Vembu moved to India in late 2019, leaving his US life and filed for divorce in 2021. The News Minute reported the strongly worded California court order asking him to post the bond of $1.7 billion, an unprecedented step.
Waste of time, invalid order
Vembu’s counsel said Sridhar offered his wife 50% of his shares in ZCPL, but to this day she has refused to accept the stock. “Instead, she has claimed that Sridhar is trying to cheat her in the divorce. This makes no sense as she could take her half of the shares now and Sridhar has already transferred his interest in the family home to her. Despite acting honorably during this process, the judge was fooled into making an order that Sridhar post a $1.7 billion bond for the wife’s supposed protection,” the attorney said. “This has nothing to do with alimony by the way, as the wife has not even sought an order for support. Sridhar is in full compliance with all lawful orders of California. The $1.7 billion bond order is invalid, cannot be complied with, and is on appeal. The receivership order has been stayed on appeal. So, this old news about an order that should never have been made. I am honored to represent Sridhar and to have been given the opportunity to know such a wonderful person. This case does not define him and mirrors the bad actions of his wife and her New York attorney,” the attorney wrote.
