INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - FEBRUARY 1st - FEBRUARY 15st - 2008
NASSCOM PRESIDENT FACES CHARGES OVER FEMALE EMPLOYEE’S DEATH
NASSCOM president and former Hewlett-Packard GlobalSoft managing director Som Mittal will face prosecution for not providing adequate security to a woman employee who was raped and murdered by the driver of the company vehicle on her way to work in 2005. The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with its earlier ruling dismissing the appeal of Mr. Mittal who had challenged his prosecution.
A two-judge Supreme Court bench had on January 29 dismissed Mr. Mittal’s appeal against a Karnataka High Court order on his prosecution. A three judge bench headed by chief justice K B Balakrishnan has upheld the dismissal. The case will now go to the trial court where maintainability of the complaint filed by Karnataka government at the time of framing of the charge would be decided.
HP GlobalSoft employee Pratibha Srikant Murthy was raped and murdered on December 13, 2005 on her way to work from her residence in Bangalore. Her death had prompted a debate about the safety of women working in night shifts in call centres and back offices across the country. A complaint was filed on December 27, 2005 against Mr. Mittal, then the MD of the company, for not providing adequate security to her.
The state government’s labour department filed the case alleging the company violated the Karnataka Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, in relation to providing transport and security for women who worked at night. While the Bangalore police investigated the murder case, the Labour department launched a separate case against Mr. Mittal alleging failure of the company to comply with the law.
The metropolitan magistrate took cognizance of the offences under provisions of the Act. Mr. Mittal challenged the trial court’s order in the Karnataka High Court, but did not get relief as the High Court dismissed his appeal on the ground that he could challenge the notice served on him at the stage of framing of charges by the magistrate’s court. He then moved the apex court.
The two-member bench consisting of Justice HK Sema and Justice Markandey Katju upheld the verdict of the High Court, but on a related issue of High Court’s intervention in cases under Section 482, held differing opinions. Because of this, the case was posted before the chief justice.
The three-member bench did not interfere with the verdict of the division bench so far as Mr. Mittal’s appeal was concerned. On the other issue under Section 482 and the direction of one of the judges, the bench headed by the chief justice said the directions were unnecessary since it had no bearing on this case.
Mr. Mittal will now have to start where the case started in the first place, the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Bangalore which had served notice on him on the complaint of the labour commissioner.
The Shops and Establishments Act does not allow women to be employed on night shift. However, call centres, which employ a large workforce including women, were exempt from the Act subject to the condition that they ensured transport and security to women employees between their homes and work place.
In the case of HP call centre, the labour department filed a case on the ground that this condition was not met. Responding to this judgement, HP said: “HP India would like to clarify that the Hon’ble court has not pronounced either Mr. Mittal or HP guilty on any count. It has only directed Mr. Mittal to urge all the contentions as available under law, including maintainability of the complaint, before the trial court. However, since the matter is sub judice, HP would not like to comment on any specifics related to the case at this point.
While the Supreme Court had dismissed his appeal on January 29, it did not express any opinion on the merits of the case. Industry players termed the development unfortunate.
“It’s unfortunate that such a ruling has come against Mr. Mittal at such a time, and we as an industry player would look into the ruling in depth for the legalities involved for BPOs in future,” said Firstsource Solutions HR executive vice-president Aashu Calapa.
|
