Wipro sued for breaking marriage

Kanpur-based Tripti Nigam accused the IT major Azim Premji of helping her husband to keep his illicit relationship by paying him dating allowance.

Wipro chairman Azim Premji is used to being called a software czar and a member of the world’s billionaire club. But a homebreaker?

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On Wednesday, Kanpurbased Tripti Nigam filed a case against her husband Gaurav Nigam, an engineer at Wipro Technologies in Bangalore, and his boss Premji. She alleged that the IT major was “promoting illicit relationships” and breaking her home by giving her husband a “dating allowance”.

“With this dating allowance, the firm helps my husband to keep up his illicit relationships with women. It is nothing but a homebreaking allowance,” said Tripti.

The Nigams’ two-year marriage is reportedly on the rocks. While Gaurav filed for divorce in April, Tripti in turn sued him and her in-laws in October under the new Domestic Violence Act. Now Premji is drawn into their conflict, with the court summoning him.

Kanpur’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar issued notices to Premji, Gaurav and Pratik Kumar, head of Wipro’s human resource division, asking them to appear in person. Wipro has been asked to explain why it is giving a dating allowance to its workers.

On Thursday, a Wipro spokesman denied the company gave dating allowance to its employees. He said Premji’s office had not yet received any summons nor was the firm aware of the case.