The Karnataka High Court has ordered Wipro Enterprises to pay Rs 50,000 in costs for misusing the legal process while denying a legitimate payment to a former employee. The case reportedly involved Ratnesh Pandey, who worked with Wipro for nearly 12 years before resigning in August of 2017. His resignation was accepted the following month, that is, in September 2017, and the company promised him an ex-gratia payment of Rs 6.32 lakh, to be paid after a year and a half, provided he did not join competitors Philips India or Bajaj Electricals.
When the payment was not made even after repeated requests, Pandey approached the Bengaluru civil court, seeking the amount with 18 per cent interest. In July 2024, the civil court ruled in his favour, ordering Wipro to pay the sum with 10 per cent interest. Wipro appealed, arguing that since Pandey had not formally accepted the cessation letter, he was, therefore, not entitled to the payment.
Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum of the High Court rejected Wipro’s argument, noting that Pandey’s last working day was 19 August, 2017, and that the company had already acted upon the cessation letter. The court clarified that returning the letter for records was not a mandatory condition and that Wipro had failed to prove any breach of contract by Pandey.
The Karnataka High Court held that Wipro’s refusal to pay was based on hyper-technical grounds and amounted to “vexatious resistance to an admitted liability”. It ruled that such conduct violated provisions of the Indian Contract Act. As a result, the appeal was reportedly dismissed, and Wipro was directed to pay the ex-gratia amount with interest, along with Rs 50,000 in costs to Pandey.
