Indian American Entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal back in command at Gravity4, pending Jail Sentence notwithstanding

Sep 9, 2016 - 9:38 am EDT @theindpanorama Indian Americans, United States 0

A die hard entrepreneur Gurbax Chahaldecided to return at the helm of his business, after having relinquished control for a while in the light of his having been found guilty of violating his probation

SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): Despite a 12-month pending jail sentence for domestic violence, tech mogul Gurbaksh Chahal has returned to the helm of Gravity4.

TechCrunch reported that Chahal had handed over control of the company he founded to his sister Kamal Kaur, after San Francisco Superior Court Judge Tracie Brown found him guilty in July of violating his probation by battering another woman.

Kaur previously held leadership roles at Chahal’s other companies, including RadiumOne and BlueLithium, which was sold to Yahoo in 2007 for $300 million.

TechCrunch reported that it was not clear why Chahal has returned to his position as CEO of Gravity4 or how long this will last. Kaur was listed as CEO on the company’s team page until last week, when she was removed without explanation. Her profile has now been replaced with Chahal’s, which describes him as a “diehard entrepreneur” and makes no mention of his legal problems, reported the Web site.

Chahal had been serving a three-year probation for two misdemeanor charges of battery and domestic violence. He was first arrested in 2013 in his San Francisco penthouse after his former girlfriend, Juliet Kakish, complained to police that he had kicked and slapped her 117 times over the course of two hours, and attempted to choke her.

The Indian American entrepreneur – who founded his first company at the age of 16 – was initially charged with 47 felony counts, but eventually entered into a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to plead guilty to just two misdemeanors. While serving his probation, Chahal in 2014 allegedly victimized another woman, for which he must now face jail time. He was not immediately taken into custody following his sentencing Aug. 12.

Chahal’s attorney, James Lassart, said in court Aug. 12 that he would file an appeal of Brown’s sentence. Lassart did not respond to India-West’s repeated calls to determine if he had filed the appeal, which is due Sept. 12.

Chahal, who grew up in San Jose, Calif., founded ClickAgents at the age of 25, and went on to found Blue Lithium. He then founded RadiumOne, but was forced to resign from the company in 2014, after he was charged with domestic violence.