Wipro Files Case against Former CFO Jatin Dalal Who Joined Cognizant; Details

Wipro, India’s third-biggest software services exporter, has initiated legal action against its former chief financial officer (CFO) Jatin Dalal in the Bengaluru civil court. In response, Dalal has filed an application requesting the court to refer the matter to arbitration. While the specific grounds for the lawsuit remain unclear, arguments from both parties have been presented, and the next hearing is scheduled for January 3, according to a report by Times of India.

Both the Bengaluru-based IT major and its former CFO have presented their arguments in the legal matter, and the next hearing is scheduled for January 3. During the forthcoming hearing, the court will make a decision on whether the dispute should proceed to arbitration, which provides an alternative avenue for resolving conflicts, offering a more streamlined and private process compared to traditional court proceedings.

News18.com couldn’t independently verify the report.

Cognizant Technology Solutions named the former Wipro chief financial officer as its CFO in September, a week after his resignation from the Indian information technology (IT) major.

He joined Wipro in 2002 and took over as the company’s CFO in 2015. His last day is 30 November. Wipro appointed Aparna Iyer as his successor.

In early December, Dalal filed an application under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, granting the judicial authority the power to direct parties to arbitration, the TOI report added.

Dalal is the second high profile hire by Cognizant in the past twelve months, after it named former Infosys President Ravi Kumar S as its CEO in January.

Wipro has also lodged a complaint against its former senior vice-president (SVP) and head of healthcare and medical devices for the Americas, Mohd Haque. The complaint alleges that Haque violated non-compete covenants by joining Cognizant as the SVP and business unit head for life sciences. Wipro further accuses Haque of sharing confidential files from his personal Gmail account, breaching his employment contract, the report further added.