Tata Cliq Chief Executive Officer Gopal Asthana is facing trial for breach of confidentiality, misuse of proprietary data and sabotage of its business by his former employer NykaaNykaa Datalabs _ in-article-icon. In his petition to the Bombay High Court, Asthana alleged that mainly employees were being poached, and reportedly told several Nykaa staffers who worked under him to join Tata Cliq.

The beauty and e-commerce major, headed by Falguni Nayar, has reportedly sought the return of Rs 19 crore in stock option benefits and other compensation of Rs 5 crore received by Asthana. Asthana served as Nykaa's chief business officer for four years and was also a member of its board.

According to the report, Nykaa has asked the Bombay High Court to stop the use of Asthana's business data for work at Tata Cliq. The Bombay High Court, in an interim order dated September 4, ordered Asthana to stop trying to recruit employees from Nykaa to Tata Cliq. Also, Justice Akil Kureshi was appointed as a mediator to resolve the dispute between the parties.

Asthana, however, dismissed the allegations as false and said they would be proved wrong in the mediation proceedings. The development comes at a time when Nykaa is facing stiff competition from Tata Cliq Myntra, AGO and Reliance Thira in the beauty, fashion and accessories businesses.