Wipro sues former CFO Jatin Dalal; what we know so far

IT major Wipro has initiated legal proceedings against its former CFO, Jatin Dalal, in a civil court in Bengaluru. In response, Dalal has filed an application requesting the court to refer the matter to arbitration. While the specific grounds for the lawsuit remain unclear, arguments from both parties have been presented, and the next hearing is scheduled for January 3, according to a report by Times of India.

At that time, the court will decide whether the matter should proceed to arbitration. Arbitration, an alternative dispute resolution method using an arbitrator instead of a judicial court, may be employed if the employment contract stipulates it, the report added.

Cognizant Technology Solutions named the former Wipro chief financial officer as its CFO in September, a week after his resignation from the Indian information technology (IT) major, as reported by Mint earlier.

He joined Wipro in 2002 and took over as the company’s CFO in 2015. His last day is 30 November. Wipro appointed Aparna Iyer as his successor.

In early December, Dalal filed an application under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, granting the judicial authority the power to direct parties to arbitration, the TOI report added.

Also read  | Cognizant appoints former Wipro finance chief Jatin Dalal as CFO

Dalal is the second high profile hire by Cognizant in the past twelve months, after it named former Infosys President Ravi Kumar S as its CEO in January.

Wipro has also lodged a complaint against its former senior vice-president (SVP) and head of healthcare and medical devices for the Americas, Mohd Haque. The complaint alleges that Haque violated non-compete covenants by joining Cognizant as the SVP and business unit head for life sciences. Wipro further accuses Haque of sharing confidential files from his personal Gmail account, breaching his employment contract, the report further added.