The Labour Court has ordered Franchise India Brands Limited (FIBL) – a leading business brokerage firm that facilitates buying and selling of businesses – to reinstate an employee and also compensate him by paying Rs 55,000 per month from the date of dismissal, and Rs 1,000 towards legal expenses.
The dismissed worker, Nitesh Katara, moved the Labour Court citing unfair dismissal. He was employed with FIBL as development officer/executive and drew a monthly salary of Rs 55,000.
Katara said that he was sacked in June 2019 when he objected to his seniors Nishit Sehgal and Shweta Rawal allegedly siphoning off Rs 2 lakh that belonged to the company. He said in his complaint that on April 26, 2019, he collected around Rs 20 lakh on behalf of the company. As he was preparing to deposit the money into the company’s bank account, Sehgal and Rawal allegedly asked him to keep aside Rs 3 lakh, which he refused.
He further said in his complaint that when the money was counted again for deposit, he found Rs 2 lakh missing, after which he threatened to file a police complaint but was prevented from doing so by Sehgal and Rawal. He nevertheless informed the company’s top brass in New Delhi about the matter.
Katara said that on June 14, 2019, he received an e-mail saying he was sacked. The Labour Court verdict, issued by Bharat Kumar Bhatt, said that FIBL failed to comply with the labour laws. The verdict said that the company did not file a police complaint despite Rs 2 lakh getting siphoned off, nor did it conduct a departmental inquiry before sacking Katara, thereby denying him opportunity of presenting his version of events.
Also Read: Millions Of Litres Of Ghee Streams Into Rupal Village To See Mother’s Chariot
