The Hindu Business Line : SC declines to examine plea of former BPO chief

New Delhi, Feb. 21 The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to examine the contentions raised by Mr Som Mittal, former Managing Director of Hewlett-Packard Global Soft Ltd, for quashing the FIR lodged against him by the Karnataka police alleging that his company had violated a State government order prohibiting night shift for women.

A three-Judge Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mr K.G. Balakrishnan, Mr Justice R.V. Raveendran and Mr Justice J.M. Panchal considered the legal issues referred to it by a two-judge Bench of Mr Justice H.K. Sema and Mr Justice Markandey Katju and said “it is unnecessary to examine the contentions (of Mr Mittal) on merits” since both the judges had concurred and dismissed the appeal.

After the incident involving the rape and murder of Pratibha Srikant Murthy, a Hewlett-Packard employee, on December 13, 2005, the police had filed an FIR accusing the then BPO chief of violating statutory orders. Mr Mittal’s plea for quashing the FIR was rejected by the Karnataka High Court. On January 29, the apex court Bench of Mr Justice H.K. Sema and Mr Justice Markandey Katju dismissed Mr Mittal’s appeal.

Difference of opinion

Subsequent to the judgment, Mr Justice Sema in a brief reference order said “the appeal (of Mr Mittal) is dismissed in terms of the signed judgments. Since there is difference of opinion (between the two judges on a matter pertaining to Uttar Pradesh) on the legal issue, let that matter be placed before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate orders.”

Accordingly a three-Judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, after considering the issues, held that the recommendations of Mr Justice Katju in a separate judgment were not binding on the Uttar Pradesh Government.

Commenting on Thursday’s development, Hewlett-Packard, in a statement issued here, said, “In the matter concerning the order passed by the Supreme Court in response to a petition filed by Mr Som Mittal, H-P India would like to clarify that the court has not pronounced either Mr Mittal or H-P guilty on any count. The court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. It has only directed Mr Mittal to urge all the contentions as available under law, including maintainability of the complaint, before the trial court. However, since the matter is sub judice, H-P would not like to comment on any specifics related to the case at this point.”

Mr Mittal — who took charge as President of software association Nasscom in January this year — could not be reached for comments , even as Nasscom declined comment.

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