Wipro Takes Legal Action Against Ex-CFO Jatin Dalal; Court to Decide on Arbitration

In a recent development, Wipro, a prominent IT company, has initiated legal proceedings against its former Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Jatin Dalal, in a Bengaluru civil court. Dalal, who resigned from Wipro and later joined Cognizant as its CFO, has responded by filing an application requesting the court to refer the matter to arbitration. The specifics of the lawsuit are currently unclear, and both parties have presented their arguments. The next hearing is scheduled for January 3, as reported by Times of India.

During the hearing, the court will determine whether the case should proceed to arbitration. Arbitration, an alternative dispute resolution method using an arbitrator instead of a judicial court, may be employed if stipulated in the employment contract.

Jatin Dalal, who joined Wipro in 2002 and served as its CFO since 2015, left the company on November 30, with Aparna Iyer appointed 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.

Dalal is now the CFO of Cognizant Technology Solutions, with his appointment announced in September, just a week after leaving Wipro.

Wipro has also filed 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.

It’s noteworthy that Dalal is the second high-profile hire by Cognizant in the past twelve months, following the appointment of former Infosys President Ravi Kumar S as its CEO in January.