Sacked Hyd Techie Sue 'Infosys' And Drags To High Court

Leading IT giant Infosys has landed itself in a legal tangle, courtesy a 26-year-old techie from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. This former employee has not only dragged the company to court but has also lodged a complaint with the Ghatkesar police in Hyderabad alleging cheating and forgery. 

Mohit Negi's claim: his services were “illegally“ terminated over a “false case of harassment against a woman employee“. Negi, who joined Infosys in September 2011, was fired from his post as system engineer in January 2013 on grounds of harassing a female colleague. 

His termination letter stated that the decision followed an inquiry conducted by an “independent panel constituted to investigate the complaint“ that found Negi to be “indeed guilty of the charges“. Incidentally, the letter carries no name of the authorized signatory who issued the order.

“This only goes to show that there has been some fou play,“ Negi, who has been job less ever since, claimed. He also maintained that the al leged investigation was never conducted and that the com pany officials forged his sig nature on the inquiry sheet.

“In fact, I got to see this sheet only when the company produced it as evidence before the assistant commissioner of labour when I registered a complaint there. I had no clue about it before,“ he argued.

His claim has found support in the labour court's judgment in January 2015. While the court, citing sections under the AP Shops and Establishments Act, 1988, ruled that it has “no jurisdiction to decide“ on the matter and the “applicant may approach another forum for justice“, it concluded that the Infosys “management has not followed the procedure as prescribed under the Act and the termination itself is illegal“.

Negi then filed a writ petition in the Hyderabad High Court (Feb 26, 2015) appealing for an order declaring the termination as “illegal and arbitrary and in violation of principles of natural justice“.

“I was served no notice or chargesheet before being or chargesheet before being fired. Even that is unlawful.My relieving letter has been withheld and my character has been tarnished. This is nothing but the result of a conspiracy of some employees who killed my career to save the girl's job,“ rued Negi.

In fact, the FIR ­ that names the HR department of Infosys (Pocharam village) and the woman employee as the two accused ­ also states how the termination has left Negi with “no chance of joining another company“.

Though contacted, INNLIVE failed to get an official response from Infosys.