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Let police probe, says Karnataka HC on Ola’s plea to quash FIR on staff’s death
Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal questioned the authenticity of the suicide note allegedly left behind by the deceased staff of the company
The Karnataka high court on Wednesday directed the Bengaluru police to continue investigating the death of a 38-year-old homologation engineer at Ola Electric on September 28, even as the company’s CEO Bhavish Aggarwal questioned the authenticity of the suicide note allegedly left behind by the deceased.
Aggarwal and Ola Electric’s head of vehicle homologations department Subrat Kumar Dash had approached the court last month seeking to quash the FIR registered against them on the charge of abetment of suicide under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The FIR, filed on October 6, followed a complaint by the deceased’s brother, who alleged that workplace harassment and denial of salary dues drove the Ola employee to die by suicide.
On Wednesday, senior advocate MS Shyamsundar, who appeared for Aggarwal, claimed that the suicide note might have been orchestrated by the complainant.
Shyamsundar told a bench of Justice Mohammad Nawaz that courts had repeatedly held that suicide notes were “not gospel truths” and claimed that the complainant might have influenced its contents. “I have a strong doubt that it is the brother of the deceased, who is the narrator of this death note,” he said,
The complainant’s counsel, advocate P Prasanna Kumar, however, immediately opposed Shyamsundar’s claim. Let him not make such submissions. It shows that the company is worse than the East India Company. How can they make an allegation against the brother? Let the police investigate who wrote the note,” Kumar told the court.
Shyamsundar also alleged that the complainant’s interviews and photos in the media were hurting Ola Electric’s share prices. “My shares are dropping because of this. This is absolutely disparaging,” he said, adding that online discussions about Ola’s “toxic work culture” had surfaced after the incident.
Kumar, however, objected to such submission and argued that the issue before the court was employee’s death and not the company’s reputation.
The court then reiterated that the police must conduct a fair probe without harassing the petitioners.
“They (police) have to conduct a fair investigation and file an appropriate final report in the four corners of law and submit a final report,” Justice Nawaz said.
The judge further clarified that while an Unnatural Death Report (UDR) had initially been filed in the case, the subsequent FIR based on the brother’s complaint was valid and the police was duty bound to investigate into the case.
“UDR will be closed now, and they (Police) have to act on this complaint,” Justice Nawaz said.
Additional special public prosecutor BN Jagadeesha, who appeared for the State, informed the court that Aggarwal and Dash had not appeared before the police despite being issued notices.
The court then reiterated that the police must act in accordance with the law and continue its probe. It must not, however, harass the petitioners, the court added.
On October 17, the high court had directed the Bengaluru police not to harass Aggarwal and others in connection with the FIR, while seeking their response.
It extended such interim protection until November 17, the next date of hearing in the case.
The 28-page suicide note had accused the company management of harassment and non-payment of salary and incentives.
According to the complaint, two days after his death, Ola transferred ₹17.46 lakh to the deceased’s account through NEFT, prompting suspicion.
The company has denied the allegations, saying the deceased never raised any complaint or grievance during his tenure and that his role did not involve direct interaction with the top management.
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