A Mumbai-based software development company has filed an FIR against six employees of Motilal Oswal Securities (MOSL) for allegedly stealing the source code of trading software it developed for the brokerage firm.

Intellect Software Solutions has alleged that the source code was stolen by four of its employees who joined Motilal Oswal Securities.

The company is demanding ₹25.5 crore as payment for the use of its software.

MOSL has, however, denied the allegations terming it baseless and false.

According to Devesh Negandhi, Director, Intellect Software Solutions Pvt Ltd, in January 2014 the software developer signed a contract with MOSL to develop a trading application for the brokerage. Intellect received ₹15 lakh as advance payment and the remaining amount was to be paid later based on the number of licences used by MOSL. By October 2014, MOSL started distributing the trading application to its clients and sub-brokers.

But Negandhi said MOSL did not pay the remaining amount. According to MOSL’s annual report, it has 8.5 lakh clients. Negandhi’s complaint says, “According to SOW (statement of work), the cost of each license is ₹300, based on which an amount of ₹25.5 crore is receivable by me.”

MOSL denies charges In January 2015, four of Intellect’s software developers — Dushyant Joshi, Harsh Kansara, Dhara Pandya and Mandar Jambulkar — resigned and joined MOSL as programmers and took the source code (the original version of the software) with them. The FIR names these four programmers and Ajay Menon, CEO — Broking & Distribution, and Pankaj Purohit, IT head of MOSL.

Ajay Menon, CEO - Broking and Distribution, MOSL, said the allegations against the company are “false and baseless” and that MOSL is considering a defamation suit against Intellect. He told BusinessLine that MOSL had engaged with Intellect to develop a trading software but Intellect had failed to deliver it. He also said that MOSL had taken permission from Intellect before interviewing the four programmers for jobs. “It is our policy to first speak to the management and ask if they are okay with us hiring them. Why has Negandhi waited a whole year to file this FIR?” Negandhi on the other hand said MOSL did not tell him it was hiring the four programmers.

The FIR was filed on January 1, 2015, at a cyber crime police station at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. When contacted a police officer said investigations have begun and the four programmers named in the FIR will be questioned.

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