Tech firm fined Rs 1 lakh for levelling allegations against TN govt official
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on Cognizant Technology Solutions Private Limited for levelling unsubstantiated 'serious allegations' against a top labour department official, a quasi-judicial officer, in connection with an order passed to set aside the termination of an employee of the firm.
Justice AD Maria Clete passed the orders while dismissing the petitions filed by the subsidiary of the US-based tech firm challenging the order of the special joint commissioner of labour (JCL), who is the appellate authority.
The JCL, by an order dated October 18, 2019, set aside the order of the firm issued on December 21, 2015 to terminate Sivakumar Krishnamurthy, an associate director of the company, from the service on the grounds of under-performance and causing loss to the firm. The JCL also ordered his reinstatement with back wages on an appeal filed by him under the TN Shops and Establishments Act, 1947.
The matter was entangled in several litigations as Krishnamurthy filed petitions in the high court seeking to expedite the hearing and disposal, and later, for transferring the matter from the JCL concerned.
After the JCL passed the orders, the tech firm moved the high court with petitions challenging the orders and levelled certain allegations and even questioned the official's integrity stating she had favoured the same person who sought transfer of the case.
Justice Maria Clete remarked, 'If the allegations made by the petitioner (Cognizant) against the statutory appellate authority are to be taken at face value, it would render it virtually impossible for any authority to discharge its quasi-judicial functions.'
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