A little over a week after Stayzilla co-founder and CEO Yogendra Vasupal was arrested, industry leaders and associations too, have joined in support of his release.

In a joint statement issued by them, industry veterans like Kris Gopalakrishnan, executive chairman, Infosys, have urged relevant authorities in Tamil Nadu to intervene and support an early hearing of Vasupal’s bail plea.

The statement says that Stayzilla has not shut shop and is still a functional company. It has only declared intentions to restructure operations and reboot its model. Stayzilla will repay its partners and vendors, it adds. Industry bodies and leaders have not only requested for the bail plea application to be expedited but also for a proper legal procedure to be followed to resolve the dispute.

Speaking of the Prime Minister’s Startup India vision, they say that startups have become the growth engine of innovation in India.  

Calling for an immediate need for guidelines on business closures, the statement says, “as startups grow and scale, they will pivot, change priorities or close down. Hence it is important that the right legal framework is provided to address any business closures. Any actions that go beyond the provisions of the law to create undue fear and harassment to the founders and their families as have been reported in this case, would raise the insecurity for startup founders, and make the cost of failure unacceptable to the vision of Startup India. This will set a very undesirable precedent.”

They have also condemned the acts of harassment extended to children and families of founders. The statement, signed by representatives from CII, FICCI, NASSCOM and TiE, says that everybody needs to respect the law of the land and not engage in unlawful activities.