Kochi: USD 170 million – approximately ₹15,300 crore. An amount one might associate with the wealth of the world’s ultra-rich. But the fact that this is the bond to be deposited in a divorce case is enough to astonish anyone.

This amount is linked to the divorce proceedings between Sridhar Vembu, founder of the global tech company Zoho, and his wife Pramila Srinivasan. The California Superior Court, where the case is being heard, has directed Vembu to furnish a bond of USD 1.70 billion (around ₹15,300 crore). The high-value divorce dispute began in 2021.

Sridhar Vembu moved to the US in 1989 for higher studies. He married Pramila Srinivasan in 1998. In 1996, Vembu along with his siblings and a friend founded the software company AdventNet, which was rebranded as Zoho Corporation in 2009. After nearly three decades in the US, Vembu returned to India in 2019 and began running Zoho from a village in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu. In 2021, divorce proceedings between Vembu and Pramila commenced.

In her petition, Pramila alleged that Vembu deserted her and their autistic son when he left the US. She also accused him of transferring Zoho shares and property rights to India without her knowledge or consent.

Under California law, assets acquired after marriage must be shared equally between the spouses. Pramila further alleged that Vembu transferred company shares to his siblings. Vembu now reportedly holds only five per cent of Zoho, while the remaining shares are under his siblings’ names.

Finding a lack of transparency in Vembu’s financial dealings, the court ordered the hefty bond to safeguard Pramila’s claims.

Vembu’s lawyer, however, stated that the order is invalid and will be challenged on appeal. Vembu has expressed willingness to give Pramila half of the shares he currently holds, but claims she has refused to accept them.