Bhargava Ghatty v. Rajesh Mudili

CourtCourt of Chancery of Delaware
DecidedOctober 21, 2025
Docket2025-0615-LWW
StatusPublished

This text of Bhargava Ghatty v. Rajesh Mudili (Bhargava Ghatty v. Rajesh Mudili) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Chancery of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bhargava Ghatty v. Rajesh Mudili, (Del. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

BHARGAVA GHATTY, SURYANARAYANA RAJU MUDUNURU, and PRAVEEN KOTAGIRI

Plaintiffs,

v. C.A. No. 2025-0615-LWW

RAJESH MUDILI, and ALIREZA ZQ NADERI,

Defendants,

and

ALTUMIND INC., a Delaware corporation,

Nominal Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Date Submitted: August 1, 2025 Date Decided: October 21, 2025

Michael W. McDermott, David B. Anthony & Zachary J. Schnapp, BERGER MCDERMOTT LLP, Wilmington, Delaware; Attorneys for Plaintiffs Bhargava Ghatty, Suryanarayana Raju Mudunuru, and Praveen Kotagiri

Michael K. DeSantis & Bradley T. Meyer, OFFIT KURMAN, Wilmington, Delaware; Attorneys for Defendants Rajesh Mudili and Alireza ZQ Naderi

WILL, Vice Chancellor This action under 8 Del. C. § 225 concerns a dispute over the corporate

officers of Altumind Inc., a private Delaware corporation. The plaintiffs—three

directors of a five-member board—purported to remove the two defendant directors

from their officer roles at a March 20 board meeting. The defendants challenge their

removals for numerous reasons, most of which exceed the bounds of this proceeding.

One argument is dispositive. Although the March 20 meeting notice complied

with the company’s bylaws, it omitted that the defendants’ removals would be

considered—and even suggested that one would assume an expanded officer role.

Equity will not abide such duplicity toward fellow directors. The defendants remain

officers of Altumind.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following facts were stipulated to by the parties or found by a

preponderance of the evidence at trial.1

1 See Joint Pre-trial Stipulation and Proposed Order (Dkt. 15) (“PTO”). The trial record includes 13 joint exhibits. Id. at 13. Joint exhibits are cited as “JX __.” 1 A. Altumind Inc.

Nominal defendant Altumind Inc. (the “Company”) provides back-office

operations and IT-related consulting and services to corporations.2 It was

incorporated in Delaware on December 10, 2021.3

The parties to this case are stockholders in and the five directors of the

Company: plaintiffs Bhargava Ghatty, Suryanarayana Raju Mudunuru, and Praveen

Kotagiri, and defendants Rajesh Mudili and Alireza ZQ Naderi.4 In April 2022, each

of the parties executed a Shareholders’ Agreement designating the Company’s

officers “[u]ntil changed by the board of directors.”5 Ghatty is co-Chief Executive

Officer and President.6 Naderi is Senior Vice President of Global Sales.7 And

Mudili is co-Chief Executive Officer and Treasurer. Whether Mudili and Naderi

retain those officer positions is in dispute.

B. The March 20 Meeting Notice

On February 19, 2025, Ghatty emailed the five directors to schedule the

Company’s “first in-person board meeting.”8 Noting that it had been “more than 3

2 PTO ¶ 2; JX 3 at 1-2. 3 JX 1 at 2. 4 PTO ¶ 1; JX 3 at 1-2. 5 JX 3 § 3.b. 6 Id. at 3. 7 Id. 8 PTO ¶ 5; JX 4 at 6. 2 years since [they had incorporated],” he hoped to discuss “how [they could] bring

better governance and transparency in [the] [C]ompany.”9 He suggested a March 20

meeting date.10

Thirteen days later, on March 7, Ghatty emailed the directors a notice and

agenda for a March 20 meeting in “San Jose, CA (subject to availability of

directors).”11 The agenda included:

1. “Review of [Ghatty’s] recent requests for financial statements, bank records, and supporting documentation[;]”

2. “Discussion of alleged unauthorized transactions or approvals[;]”

3. “Proposal for new signatory protocols and centralized finance email[;]”

4. “Proposed recognition and role expansion for [Naderi; and]”

5. “Any additional matters raised by Board members or shareholders in good faith[.]”12

A detailed description of the items to be discussed followed.13 Relevant here,

Ghatty stated his belief that the Company’s “shareholders and directors [should]

have timely and accurate insight into the Company’s financial affairs.”14 To that

9 JX 4 at 6. 10 Id. 11 PTO ¶ 8; JX 4 at 3-6. 12 JX 4 at 4. 13 That is, a detailed description of the agenda was included within the same notice email after the high-level agenda. 14 JX 4 at 4. 3 end, he proposed to “[t]ransition to a two-signature minimum requirement for any

[financial] disbursements, with three (or five) total authorized signers designated by

the Board.”15 At the time, Mudili was the only authorized signatory for the

Company’s Bank of America account.16

Ghatty also outlined “[p]otential [a]reas of [c]oncern” regarding unauthorized

compensation or withdrawals, hiring practices, and improper use of documents.17

He wrote: “I emphasize that no final conclusions have been reached. These matters

are cited solely to ensure the Board is informed.”18

Regarding Naderi, Ghatty noted Naderi’s “notable contributions to [the

Company’s] revenue growth and client acquisition efforts.”19 He proposed that

Naderi be appointed Chief Revenue Officer and given “[e]nhanced

[c]ompensation.”20

Ghatty expressed his hope that the meeting would “strengthen corporate

governance.”21 He cautioned that the notice was not “an accusation of wrongdoing

against any individual” but “a formal invitation to clarify and remedy any potential

15 Id. 16 PTO ¶ 3 (discussing the account ending in ‘6195). 17 JX 4 at 5. 18 Id. 19 Id. 20 Id. 21 Id. at 6. 4 governance shortfalls.”22 He invited all directors to submit any “contrary evidence”

and “additional agenda items” ahead of the meeting.23

C. The Falling Out The next week, on March 13, Naderi accused Ghatty of “self-dealing by

concealing financial arrangements that bene[fited] [him] personally.”24 He

mentioned multiple failed buyback attempts of Ghatty’s shares.25 Naderi offered an

ultimatum: either Ghatty accept a buyback offer by close of business, or Naderi

would “withdraw from the company and file for its dissolution.”26

Ghatty denied any misconduct or previous buyback proposals.27 He invited

Naderi to “place any legitimate concerns on the official Board meeting agenda.”28

He also reminded Naderi and Mudili that “requests for complete financial records

(bank statements, tax returns, budgets, etc.) have gone unanswered.”29

22 Id. 23 Id. at 5. 24 Id.; see PTO ¶ 9 (confirming that all five directors were on this email). 25 JX 5 at 4. 26 Id. 27 Id. at 1-2; see PTO ¶ 9. 28 JX 5 at 2. 29 Id. 5 On March 19, Naderi told the Board that he and Mudili would be unable to

attend the meeting due to their “tight schedules.”30 Ghatty responded that their

notice of absence—only one day before the meeting—was unacceptable.31 Ghatty

offered to provide a virtual meeting link upon request.32 Alternatively, Ghatty said

that he was “prepared to schedule an additional Board meeting” on a proposed future

date.33 The record does not suggest that Mudili or Naderi requested a link.

D. The March 20 Meeting and Its Aftermath

According to the plaintiffs, the March 20 Board meeting went forward as

planned, with Ghatty, Kotagiri, and Mudunuru in attendance.34 There are no

contemporaneous minutes or evidence of the meeting, however. Resolutions dated

April 8 state that at the meeting, “appropriate resolutions were adopted, changing

certain officer and signatory roles within the Company.”35

30 JX 4 at 3. The time stamp on the email is March 20 at 1:34 pm.

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