Karnataka court disposes Wipro's suit against ex-CFO, refers it for arbitration

Bengaluru: A civil court in Bengaluru has disposed of Wipro's suit against its former chief financial officer Jatin Dalal by referring the matter for arbitration.

The court allowed an interlocutory application (IA) by Dalal seeking arbitration with his former company on Wednesday.

Referring the matter for arbitration, the court in its order said, "I.A.No.5 filed by the defendant/applicant under Sec.8 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 is hereby allowed. Consequently, by exercising power under Sec.8(1) of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996, the parties are hereby referred to the arbitration in terms of the arbitration clause in the agreements."

Another application by Dalal seeking production of certain documents was, however, dismissed by the court, which noted that these documents were already filed.

"I.A.No.4, filed by the defendant under Sec.8(2) of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 is hereby dismissed, as the digitally signed electronic records of the agreements with certificate under Sec.65-B of the Indian Evidence Act, have already been produced by the plaintiff,' the XLIII Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge said in the order.

The suit against Dalal filed by Wipro on November 28 seeks payment of compensation of Rs 25,15,52,875 with interest of 18 per cent for allegedly violating a clause in his employment contract with the company. Dalal resigned from Wipro in September.

Allegedly, the non-compete clause prevents Dalal from joining a rival within one year of leaving the company, failing which he would be liable to compensate Wipro with the value of the Restricted Stock Units (RSU) allotted to him or the sum of his total remuneration in the previous 12 months. PTI COR GMS KH