BENGALURU: The Bengaluru City Civil Court on Wednesday referred IT major Wipro’s lawsuit against former chief financial officer (CFO) Jatin Dalal to arbitration. Wipro has demanded Rs 25.15 crore in damages along with 18% interest from Dalal for violating a clause in his employment contract. Dalal has joined the company’s rival Cognizant.
The suit was filed by the IT company at the end of November and Dalal had requested the court to refer the matter to arbitration. The non-compete clause prevents Dalal from joining a rival within one year of leaving the company and failing which he would be liable to compensate the company with value of the Restricted Stock Units (RSU) allotted to him or the sum of his total remuneration in the previous 12 months.
Dalal joined Wipro in 2002 and became CFO of the company in April 2015 and also assumed additional responsibilities as President beginning in December 2019. Dalal also led Wipro Ventures, Wipro’s $300 million strategic investment arm focused on investing in early- to mid-stage startups.
On September 21, Wipro announced that CFO Dalal has resigned and that Aparna C Iyer has been elevated as its new CFO. A week later, Cognizant announced the appointment of Dalal as CFO, effective in December. Dalal is reporting to Ravi Kumar S, Cognizant’s CEO.