Wipro sues former CFO Jatin Dalal, senior executive Mohd Haque

Wipro has initiated legal action against its former Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Jatin Dalal, who joined global competitor Cognizant on December 1. The specific reasons for the lawsuit remain undisclosed, and the upcoming hearing is set for January 3, as confirmed by a source with direct knowledge. 

Dalal had announced his resignation in September after serving over 21 years at Wipro, India's fourth-largest IT service provider. His tenure concluded on November 30. The complaint against Dalal has been filed in the civil court in Bengaluru, Wipro's headquarters. Subsequently, Dalal has submitted an application requesting the court to refer the matter to arbitration. The court will evaluate arguments from both parties to decide whether arbitration is warranted. 

Currently reporting to Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S, Dalal held the position of Wipro CFO since 2015 and took on additional responsibilities as president in 2019. Dalal was unavailable for immediate comment. 

Wipro has also lodged a complaint against its former senior executive, Mohd Haque, who allegedly joined Cognizant in August, violating a non-compete clause in his employment contract with Wipro. Haque left Wipro in June after nearly 13 years with the company. The complaint against Haque includes serious allegations, asserting that he was in possession of confidential information. Wipro claims that Haque uploaded and emailed "seven files" containing confidential information from his personal Gmail account around June 20, 2023, which was flagged by its IT team on June 22. 

In a past incident in 2018, Infosys pursued legal action against its former CFO, Rajiv Bansal. Bansal contested Infosys' decision to suspend the payment of approximately ₹12.2 crore of severance pay promised to him upon leaving in October 2015, invoking his rights to an arbitral tribunal.