Leaving one organization to join another competing organization is very common in the corporate world for the sake of profit or other regions. Wipro, one of the country’s leading information and technology (IT) companies, filed a lawsuit against its former Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Jatin Dalal, as he had recently left Wipro to join rival company Cognizant.
About Jatin Dalal: in breif
Jatin Dalal, now part of Cognizant, is a high-profile businessman. Dalal holds qualifications as a Chartered Accountant (CA) in India and a Cost and Management Accountant (CMA) in India.
He is married with two children and has a keen interest in fitness and reading. He joined Wipro in 2002 and took over as the company’s CFO in 2015. He left Wipro on November 30, 2023, after 21 years. Before he became Wipro’s CFO, Dalal served as the CFO of Wipro’s Global IT Business from 2011 to 2015, based in Bangalore.
After the resignation of Jatin Dalal from Wipro last month, the company announced in its regulatory filing that Aparna Iyer will take his place as the new CFO.
However, Dalal joined Cognizant in September. He has been appointed there as CFO since December 1. He is tasked with overseeing Cognizant’s global financial planning and analysis, accounting and control, tax, treasury, and internal audit, corporate development, investor relations, and enterprise risk management functions. Dalal was also on the investment committee of Wipro Ventures.
Why the case was filed ?
The specific reason behind the case against the broker is yet to be revealed by the company. Both the Bengaluru-based IT major and its former CFO have presented their arguments in the legal matter. According to the report, the next hearing in this matter will be held on January 3.
The case has been filed in a Civil Court in Bengaluru. The court will decide at a later hearing whether the case should be sent to arbitration, offering a more private and streamlined process for resolving the matter than a traditional court process.
However, it is believed that after joining Cognizant, Wipro filed a case against him. Earlier, Wipro also filed a case against its former senior vice president and head of Healthcare and Medical Devices for the America, Mohd Haque. Haque was also accused of joining Cognizant. Wipro alleges that after joining Cognizant. Wipro alleged that Haque leaked the company’s confidential information from personal emails.
All about the Case
The preliminary hearing of the case was held on November 28. Later, in early December, Dalal filed an application under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. This clause empowers the judicial authority to direct the parties involved to proceed with arbitration.
Arbitration is the use of an arbitrator, instead of a judicial court, to resolve a dispute, and this method can be used if the employment contract provides for it Wipro has not yet issued any public statement on the matter.
Reporting to Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar, Jatin Dalal has over two decades of experience at Wipro, where he served as CFO in 2015 and later as President in 2019. His move to Cognizant, where he is expected to move to post-visa formalities in the US or the UK, is a major career move.
Wipro’s Position Stock market
CEO Delaporte has been under pressure from the company for the last three quarters to boost the profits of the company as top positions are leaving the tech firm. Wipro has been in the news since last week for a possible top management churn. Wipro is planning to remove Thierry Delaporte as the top CEO soon, a popular media company reported, citing three sources.
Wipro’s shares extended their gains on last Tuesday (on December 26), ending 1.5% higher at ₹469.70. The stock is up 20% for the year and is now trading well above the buyback price of ₹445 per share. The stock surged as much as 7% last Friday following rumors that former L&T Infotech CEO Sanjay Jalona was set to join the company. Wipro, however, rubbished the rumors.
