Wipro, one of India's leading and highly valued IT companies has filed a lawsuit against its ex-chief financial officer, Jatin Dalal, in a Bengaluru civil court. As of December 1, Dalal assumed the role of CFO at the rival company Cognizant, according to a report.
Dalal has filed an application seeking the court's referral of the matter to arbitration. The grounds for the lawsuit remain unclear, but as per the report by Times of India, both parties have presented their arguments, and the next hearing is scheduled for January 3.
Wipro had earlier accused its former senior executive, Mohd Haque, of violating a non-compete clause in his employment contract. This breach occurred when he joined Cognizant before August of this year, leading to the filing of a complaint by Wipro.
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According to Wipro's complaint, Haque, who resigned in June this year, had consented to specific limitations on his post-employment endeavors. These restrictions included refraining from working for a select group of Wipro's competitors, including Cognizant, for a duration of 12 months following the termination of his employment.
The complaint filed in a US court stated that upon Haque's elevation to the position of Wipro's Senior Vice President (SVP) and his localization as a US employee, he became entitled to receive equity awards exceeding $1 million over several years.
Jatin Dalal, who spent over two decades in the Indian IT services major, began his journey as a manager in the treasury operations. In late September, Cognizant announced that Dalal would assume the responsibilities from Jan Siegmund in December.
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