Delhi District Court
Rakesh Kumar vs Stellar Information Technology ... on 24 December, 2022
IN THE COURT OF SH. SACHIN GUPTA,
ADDITIONAL DISTRICT JUDGE-04, WEST
TIS HAZARI COURTS, DELHI
CNR No. DLWT01-002980-2015
Civil DJ No. 612372/2016
In the matter of:
Rakesh Kumar
S/o Sh. Sanjeev Kumar
R/o T-251, UG Floor,
Prem Nagar, Uttam Nagar West,
New Delhi-110059. ...........Plaintiff
Versus
Stellar Information Technology Private Limited
947, Vikas Kunj,
Vikas Puri,
New Delhi-110018. .........Defendant
SUIT FOR PERMANENT AND MANDATORY
INJUNCTION ALONG WITH RECOVERY OF RS.
4,72,614/- (RUPEES FOUR LACS, SEVENTY-TWO
THOUSAND, SIX HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN ONLY)
ALONG WITH INTERST @ 24% PER ANNUM FROM
THE DUE DATE.
DATE OF INSTITUTION : 11.12.2015
DATE OF ARGUMENTS : 21.12.2022
DATE OF DECISION : 24.12.2022
Digitally
signed by
SACHIN
SACHIN GUPTA
GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24
16:08:09
+0530
Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd.
Civil DJ No.612372/2016
Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022
Page No.1 of 20
JUDGMENT
1. The plaintiff has filed the present suit against the defendant seeking the relief of permanent and mandatory injunction along with recovery of Rs. 4,72,614/- alongwith interest at the rate of 24 % per annum from September, 2015 and pendente-lite and future interest. The exact prayer made by the plaintiff, in the plaint, is reproduced below: -
"In the light of the above-mentioned submissions, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:
(i) Pass a money decree of Rs. 4,72,614/-
along with interest @ 24% to be calculated from September, 2015 along with pendente- lite and future interest till the time the recovery is made;
(ii) Pass a decree of permanent & mandatory injunction against the defendant company to immediately issue relieving letter through which the plaintiff herein can secure gainful employment for himself;
(iii) Pass costs in favour of the plaintiff for litigation expenses for the amount of Rs.50,000/-;
(iv) Any other order which this court may deem fit in the interests of justice and equity."
Digitally
signed by
SACHIN
Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. SACHIN GUPTA
GUPTA Date:
Civil DJ No.612372/2016 2022.12.24
16:08:23
Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 +0530
Page No.2 of 20
2. In order to justify the grant of the aforesaid prayer/relief, the plaintiff has inter-alia pleaded in the plaint that the plaintiff joined the defendant company as business development executive in February, 2007; that the defendant is in the business of providing data solutions and date recovery to individual and business houses all across the country; that the defendant company employed the plaintiff on probation basis vide appointment letter dated 06.02.2007; that on the basis of the performance of the plaintiff, the defendant company confirmed the employment of the plaintiff as a permanent employee vide appointment cum confirmation letter dated 01.08.2007; that salary and designation of the plaintiff kept increasing on the basis of his good performance and in the last increment dated 01.04.2014, the plaintiff was promoted to the designation Regional Manager (North) and his salary was increased to Rs. 8,02,500/- along with additional incentive; that the plaintiff was also promised a healthy incentive by way of PLR guidelines (Performance Linked Reward); that the plaintiff decided to leave the defendant company and to do something different; that he sent his resignation vide e-mail dated 09.09.2015; that its acceptance along with waiving off the notice period was communicated to the plaintiff vide e-mail dated 09.09.2015; that even after accepting the resignation of the plaintiff, the defendant company did not complete all the pending formalities and not released the outstanding dues in favour of the plaintiff; that the defendant company also did not provide the relieving letter to the plaintiff due to which, plaintiff Digitally signed Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. by SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Civil DJ No.612372/2016 Date:
GUPTA 2022.12.24 Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 16:08:34 +0530 Page No.3 of 20 suffered harassment and loss of employment; that the defendant company did not understand that it was not the responsibility of the plaintiff to chase two other ex-employees of the defendant company in any manner for recovery of any outstanding amount, which might be payable by them; that the outstanding amount of the plaintiff against the defendant company includes 10 days salary (from 01.09.2015 to 09.09.2015) amounting to Rs.17,189/-, conveyance amount for the month of August and September, 2015, amounting Rs. 13,710/-, Gratuity amount of Rs. 63,180/-, earned leave amounting Rs. 39,535/-, incentive and performance linked reward for the financial year 2014-2015 amounting Rs. 23,059/-, incentive and performance linked reward for the financial year 2015-2016 amounting to Rs.1,00,000/- and further a sum of Rs. 2,16,000/- on account of loss of earning suffered by the plaintiff, which he would have earned by gainfully employed himself but he could not earn due to non-providing of relieving letter by the defendant to him, hence, present suit is filed by the plaintiff against the defendant seeking recovery of total outstanding amount of Rs. 4,72,614/- along with interest and for injunction against the defendant to immediately issue relieving letter, as prayed for.
3. Upon service of summons for settlement of issues of this suit, defendant company through its director Mr. Manoj Dhingra contested this suit by filing a written statement, wherein it is inter alia pleaded that the plaintiff concealed material facts from the Court in as much as the plaintiff has been responsible for criminal Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. Digitally signed by Civil DJ No.612372/2016 SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24 16:08:47 Page No.4 of 20 +0530 breach of trust, guilty of misconduct and also violated and breached terms of confidentiality agreement; that defendant company vide its e-mail dated 09.09.2015 itself called upon the plaintiff to handover official Dell Tablet and Intex Aqua i5 (official handset) containing valuable data, charger and Samsung Mobile charger within a week; that the defendant company only reiterated the earlier acknowledgement of the plaintiff which was agreed by him in the matter of cooperation of plaintiff in cases relating to misappropriation of company funds by Mr. Chandan Chaudhary, who was the subordinate of the plaintiff and reporting to him and in the matter of false reporting of duty by Mr. Rajiv Kumar who was brother-in-law of the plaintiff; that as per the policy of defendant company, handing over the office equipment and obtaining no dues from various departments of the defendant company including accounts etc. were the condition precedent to full and final settlement of the plaintiff, which he admittedly failed to comply; that though the aforesaid Mr. Rajiv Kumar was brother-in-law of the plaintiff, plaintiff for the reason best known to him failed to give a declaration to this effect despite the specific policy of the defendant company in this respect; that in the first week of December, 2015, the defendant company came to know that the plaintiff is divulging confidential data and confidential information of the defendant company inter-alia relating to their processes, client's/customer list, terms of engagement, billing details etc. to the competitors of the defendant in breach of the confidentiality agreement; that the defendant company also came to know through reliable source that Digitally signed by Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Civil DJ No.612372/2016 GUPTA Date:
Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 2022.12.24
16:08:58
Page No.5 of 20 +0530
that plaintiff has also started vilification campaign against the defendant company thereby harming reputation, goodwill and causing loss and damages to the defendant company with malafide intentions and ulterior motives; that the defendant company was constrained to send a legal notice dated 18.12.2015 calling upon the plaintiff to stop with immediate effect using and divulging information and data pertaining to the defendant company, refrain from approaching defendant's customers, refrain from harming goodwill and reputation of the defendant and also to handover defendant's Dell Tablet and Intex Aqua i5 handset containing valuable data and information of the defendant company, its charger and Samsung Mobile charger within seven days of the receipt of notice but to no effect; that plaintiff is not entitled to an amount of Rs. 4,72,614/- as alleged and present suit is liable to be dismissed with cost.
4. In the replication, the plaintiff has denied the contents of the written statement and re-affirmed the contents of the plaint.
5. Perusal of record shows that on 05.05.2017, the plaintiff handed over the official Dell Tablet along with the charging adaptor to Mr. Satinder Singh, authorized representative of defendant company in the Court, who also handed over the relieving letter dated 04.05.2017 to the plaintiff and their statements to this effect were also recorded in the Court.
Digitally signed by SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24 Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. 16:09:13 +0530 Civil DJ No.612372/2016 Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 Page No.6 of 20
6. On the aforesaid pleadings of the parties, the following issues were framed by the Ld. Predecessor Judge on 08.09.2017: -
"1. Whether the plaintiff has committed breach of terms and conditions of the agreement dated 06.02.2007 and appointment letter, if so its effect? OPD
2. Whether plaintiff is entitled to recover a sum of Rs. 4,72,614/- from the defendant?
OPP.
3. Whether the plaintiff is entitled to pendente-lite and future interest, if so, at what rate? OPP
4. Relief."
7. During trial, one witness viz. PW-1 Sh. Rakesh Kumar was examined in support of the case of the plaintiff, who tendered his evidence by way of affidavit Ex.PW1/A and relied upon the documents i.e. Appointment letter dated 06.02.2007 Ex.-P1, Appointment letter dated 01.08.2007 Ex.-P-2, Copy of increment letter dated 08.05.2008 Ex.-P3, Copy of increment letter dated 01.04.2014 marked as Mark-A, e-mails between the plaintiff and the defendant regarding acceptance and waiving of the notice period Ex. PW1/5, Document showing attendance of the plaintiff for the month of September, 2015 Ex.PW1/6, Expense summary sheet showing the expenses for the period of August and September, 2015 Ex.PW1/7, Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. Digitally signed by Civil DJ No.612372/2016 SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 GUPTA Date:
Page No.7 of 20 2022.12.24
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TDS certificate and bank statement of the plaintiff for the year 2014- 2015 Ex. PW1/8, Pay slips issued by the defendant along with target achievement details of the company Ex.PW1/9, e-mails exchanged between the plaintiff and the defendant Ex. PW1/10 and Affidavit u/s 65-B of Indian Evidence Act Ex. PW1/11. He was cross- examined at length by the ld. Counsel for the defendant. His testimony is not being discussed, at this stage of this judgment, for the sake of brevity.
8. In defendant evidence, one witness viz. DW-1 Sh. Satender Singh was examined, who tendered his evidence by way of affidavit Ex. DW1/A and relied upon the documents i.e. e-mail dated 09.09.2015 Ex.PW1/D1, e-mail dated 30.11.2015, 26.11.2015, 09.11.2015, 03.11.2015, 28.09.2015, 25.09.2015, 23.09.2015 and 09.09.2015 Ex. DW1/2 (colly), Legal Notice dated 18.12.2015 along with postal and courier receipts Ex. DW1/3 (colly) (OSR), Relevant page of website of Ministry of Corporate Affairs showing the names and particulars of M/s Techchef Consulting India Pvt. Ltd Ex. DW1/4, Website pages of M/s Techchef Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. Ex.DW1/5 (colly), e-mail dated 08.04.2016 Ex. DW1/6, Affidavit under section 65-B of Indian Evidence Act Ex. DW1/7, copy of Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement Mark-A, Copy of Employee Confidentiality Agreement Mark-B. He was cross-examined at length by the ld. Counsel for the plaintiff. His testimony is not being discussed, at this stage of this judgment, for the sake of brevity.
Digitally signed by SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24 Civil DJ No.612372/2016 16:09:39 +0530 Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 Page No.8 of 20
9. I had heard ld. Counsel for both the parties and carefully perused the record. The issue wise findings, in this case are as follows: -ISSUE NO.1 & 2
1. Whether the plaintiff has committed breach of terms and conditions of the agreement dated 06.02.2007 and appointment letter, if so, its effect? OPD
2. Whether plaintiff is entitled to recover a sum of Rs. 4,72,614/- from the defendant?
OPP.
10. The findings qua issue no. 1 and 2 are being given together because they are inextricably linked to each other. The onus to prove the issue no. 1 was placed on the defendant and onus to prove the issue no. 2 was placed on the plaintiff. However, since both the parties have led their respective evidence, the onus pales into insignificance and the contentions of the parties would be decided on the basis of the evidence available on record.
11. In order to prove its case, the plaintiff has examined PW-1 Sh. Rakesh Kumar, who has filed his affidavit in evidence which is Ex. PW1/A, wherein he deposed in line with the plaint. As per the case of the plaintiff, he joined the defendant company as business development executive in February 2007 vide appointment letter dated 06.02.2007 Ex. P1 and defendant company confirmed his Digitally Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. signed by SACHIN Civil DJ No.612372/2016 SACHIN GUPTA GUPTA Date:
Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 2022.12.24 16:09:51 Page No.9 of 20 +0530 employment vide appointment cum confirmation letter dated 01.08.2007 Ex. P2; that on 09.09.2015, he sent his resignation through e-mail to the defendant company, which was accepted and the notice period of the plaintiff was also waived of and the said mail is Ex. PW-1/5; that the defendant company even after accepting the resignation of the plaintiff did not release outstanding dues in favour of the plaintiff and also did not provide the reliving letter to the plaintiff due to which plaintiff suffered harassment and loss of employment and total outstanding amount of Rs. 4,72,614/- along with interest is payable by the defendant.
12. Per contra, in support of case of the defendant, one witness viz. DW-1 Sh. Satender Singh was examined, who tendered his evidence by way of affidavit Ex. DW1/A, wherein he deposed substantially in line with the written statement. As per the case of the defendant, plaintiff submitted his resignation vide e-mail dated 09.09.2015 which was accepted by the defendant on 09.09.2015 itself and even the notice period was also waived off for which plaintiff would otherwise be liable to pay two months' salary; that through the same e-mail dated 09.09.2015 Ex. PW1/D1, accepting the resignation of the plaintiff, he was called upon to handover official Dell Tablet and Intex Aqua i5 (official handset) with charger and Samsung Mobile charger within a week and to cooperate in two cases, one relating to misappropriation of company funds by Mr. Chandan Chaudhary and another relating to false reporting of duty by Mr. Rajiv Kumar, however, plaintiff failed to do so; that the Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. Digitally Civil DJ No.612372/2016 signed by SACHIN Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 SACHIN GUPTA Page No.10 of 20 GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24 16:10:07 +0530 defendant company was constrained to send a legal notice dated 18.12.2015 Ex. DW1/3 calling upon the plaintiff to stop with immediate effect using and divulging information and data pertaining to the defendant company, refrain from approaching defendant's customers, refrain from harming goodwill and reputation of the defendant and also to handover defendant's Dell Tablet and Intex Aqua i5 handset containing valuable data and information of the defendant company, its charger and Samsung Mobile charger within seven days of the receipt of notice but to no effect and plaintiff is not entitled to an amount of Rs. 4,72,614/- as alleged.
13. However, as per para no.17 of the affidavit in evidence of DW-1 Sh. Satender Singh, admittedly, a sum of Rs. 1,22,029/-
(Rupees one lakh, twenty-two thousand and twenty-nine only) is payable to the plaintiff on account of salary for the month of September, 2015, gratuity, conveyance and leave encashment after income tax deduction of Rs. 4,547/-. Remaining amount as claimed by the plaintiff has been specifically denied by the DW-1 Sh. Satender Singh.
14. It has been pleaded by the defendant that plaintiff has committed breach of terms and conditions of the agreement/ appointment letter dated 06.02.2007 and confirmation letter dated 01.08.2007. Ex.P-1 is the agreement/terms of employment/appointment letter dated 06.02.2007 issued by the Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. Digitally Civil DJ No.612372/2016 signed by SACHIN Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 SACHIN GUPTA GUPTA Date:
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defendant company to the plaintiff and accepted by him. Ex. P-2 is the confirmation letter dated 01.08.2007 which is also issued by the defendant company to the plaintiff confirming employment of the plaintiff with the defendant. Both the aforesaid documents Ex. P-1 and Ex P-2 have been relied upon the plaintiff himself and admitted by the defendant. In both the aforesaid documents, it is clearly stipulated that "On termination of your appointment for any reason whatsoever, you shall immediately surrender to the company all books, software, literature, documents, files, originals or otherwise and other property of the company given to you or which may come into your possession the course of your appointment."
15. In his cross-examination, the plaintiff/PW-1 Sh. Rakesh Kumar admitted that the letter of appointment dated 06.02.2007 Ex. P-1 contained terms of employment and he was agreeable for the same. He also admitted that Ex. P-1 was for probation period of six months and his employment was confirmed vide letter dated 01.08.2007 Ex. P-2 which also sets out terms of the employment. He further admitted that Mr. Pradeep Ghosh had given response through his e-mail dated 09.09.2015 to his resignation letter. He further admitted that e-mail dated 09.09.2015 sent at 08.14 PM was the reply e-mail of Pradeep Ghosh and he admitted the receipt of this email Ex. PW-1/D1. He also admitted that through this mail Mr. Pradeep Ghosh had demanded from him that the Dell Tablet, Intex Phone be returned back to the company. He also admitted that the things had to be returned within a week as per email dated Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. Digitally signed by Civil DJ No.612372/2016 SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24 Page No.12 of 20 16:11:13 +0530 09.09.2015.
16. Indisputably, the defendant company vide its e-mail dated 09.09.2015, copy of which is Ex. PW1/D1, which is sent in response to the e-mail of plaintiff tendering his resignation, defendant company while accepting his resignation, called upon the plaintiff inter alia to handover the property of company i.e. official Dell tablet, Intex Aqua i5 (official handset) with charger and Samsung mobile charger within one week. However, from the material available on record, evidence led by the parties and documents relied upon by them, it is manifestly clear that plaintiff did not return the aforesaid property of defendant company at that time or even after receiving of notice dated 18.12.2015 Ex. DW1/3 and continued to keep the property of the defendant company with him, thereby he clearly committed breach of terms and conditions of the agreement/appointment letter dated 06.02.2007 Ex P-1 and confirmation letter dated 01.08.2007 Ex. P-2.
17. It is only during the pendency of present suit, plaintiff handed over the official Del Tablet along with the charging adapter to the authorized representative of defendant company in the Court on 05.05.2017, at the time when defendant company through its authorized representative Mr. Satinder Singh handed over the relieving letter dated 04.05.2017 to the plaintiff.
18. Moreover, defendant company accepted the resignation of Digitally Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. signed by SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Civil DJ No.612372/2016 GUPTA Date:
Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 2022.12.24 16:11:25 +0530 Page No.13 of 20 plaintiff with immediate effect and bonafidely waived off his notice period. Whereas, the plaintiff in clear breach of terms and conditions of agreement /appointment letter dated 06.02.2007 and confirmation letter dated 01.08.2007, continued to retain the property of the defendant company till it was handed over to the authorized representative of the defendant in the court.
19. Plaintiff has also failed disclose the aforesaid material fact of retaining the property of defendant company in his plaint, while claiming his outstanding dues towards the defendant, for the reasons best known to him and the same also amounts to concealment of material fact on his part. Needless to say, that a person coming to court with a lawsuit or petition for a court order must be free from unfair conduct (have "clean hands" or not have done anything wrong) in regard to the subject matter of his claim.
20. It has also been pleaded by the defendant that through the same e-mail dated 09.09.2015 Ex. PW1/D1, while accepting the resignation of the plaintiff, plaintiff was also called upon to cooperate in two cases, one relating to misappropriation of company funds by Mr. Chandan Chaudhary and another relating to false reporting of duty by Mr. Rajiv Kumar, however, plaintiff failed to do so. In his cross examination, plaintiff also admitted that Mr. Pradeep Ghosh had also mentioned to him that he will cooperate with investigation and inquiry with regard to the two cases mentioned in the e-mail. Admittedly, Mr. Rajiv Kumar is brother-in-law of Digitally Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. signed by Civil DJ No.612372/2016 SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24 Page No.14 of 20 16:11:53 +0530 plaintiff, who had also not given any declaration to this effect in writing to the defendant company. It is also transpired from cross examination of plaintiff/PW-1 that after leaving the defendant company, plaintiff became director in the company namely Techchef Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. and the aforesaid Mr. Chandan Chaudhary was working as sales manager and his wife was also director in the very same company. In such circumstances, it was highly improbable for the plaintiff to cooperate the defendant company in those two cases pending against the aforesaid Mr. Chandan Chaudhary and Mr. Rajiv Kumar as mentioned in e-mail dated 09.09.2015 Ex. PW1/D1 and the contentions of the defendant regarding non cooperation on the part of plaintiff in those two cases is also fortified, which further reflects badly on the conduct of the plaintiff vis-a-vis his commitment towards the defendant company.
21. In view of the aforesaid discussion and material on record, it is clear that plaintiff committed breach of terms and conditions of the agreement/appointment letter dated 06.02.2007 and confirmation letter dated 01.08.2007 by himself not returning the aforesaid property of defendant company at the time of his resignation dated 09.09.2015 and further continued to keep the same with him despite the demand for its return repeatedly made by the defendant company through its email dated 09.09.2015 Ex. PW1/D1 and legal notice dated 18.12.2015 Ex. DW1/3. Breach of an agreement, howsoever small may be, is a breach. Since, the plaintiff has committed the breach of terms and conditions of his Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. Digitally Civil DJ No.612372/2016 signed by SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 GUPTA Date:
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employment vide agreement/appointment letter and confirmation letter Ex. P-1 and P-2 respectively, it strikes at the root of the matter regarding his claims for any benefits, incentives, emoluments etc. under the very said agreement. In view of the aforesaid discussion, issue no.1 is decided in favour of defendant and against the plaintiff.
22. Now coming to the claim of recovery of Rs. 4,72,614/- as made by the plaintiff in the present suit, it is transpired from the record that the plaintiff has failed to bring and prove on record any material document to substantiate his claim for the recovery of aforesaid amount of Rs. 4,72,614/-.
23. The outstanding amount claimed by the plaintiff against the defendant company includes 10 days salary (from 01.09.2015 to 09.09.2015) amounting to Rs.17,189/-, conveyance amount for the month of August and September, 2015 amounting Rs. 13,710/-, gratuity amount of Rs. 63,180/-, earned leave amounting Rs.
39,535/-, incentive and performance linked reward for the financial year 2014-2015 amounting Rs. 23,059/-, incentive and performance linked reward for the financial year 2015-2016 amounting to Rs.1,00,000/- and further a sum of Rs. 2,16,000/- on account of loss of earning suffered by the plaintiff subsequent to resignation from the defendant company due to non-providing of relieving letter by the defendant to him. However, vide his statement dated 21.12.2022 given in the Court, plaintiff has withdrawn his claim for the aforesaid sum of Rs. 2,16,000/- (Rupees two lakh and sixteen Digitally signed Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. SACHIN by SACHIN GUPTA Civil DJ No.612372/2016 GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24 Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 16:12:24 +0530 Page No.16 of 20 thousand only) and the same is accordingly withdrawn as not pressed for vide order dated 21.12.2022.
24. Even with regard to his remaining claim of outstanding dues, plaintiff has not been able to prove the same by bringing on record unimpeachable evidence and proving the relevant and material documents in accordance with law in support of his claim for the alleged outstanding dues towards the defendant. There is one expense summary sheet Ex. PW1/7 relied upon by the plaintiff admittedly does not bear any signature and no supporting document has been filed along with the aforesaid expense summary sheet.
Admittedly, no supporting document has been filed by the plaintiff for his gratuity amount claim. In his cross examination, plaintiff/PW-1 stated that he was not sure whether he had filed any document in respect of encashment of leaves. The plaintiff has also relied upon a photocopy of a document i.e. his salary package for the financial year 2014-15, which is Mark A, however, the same is neither proved in accordance with law nor it substantiate his claim for any outstanding dues including the alleged outstanding performance linked incentive for the financial year 2014-15 or for 2015-16. The copy of pay slip of plaintiff for the month of March, 2015 relied upon by him also offers no help in support of his claim for outstanding conveyance amount, gratuity, earned leave encashment or performance linked reward as alleged. Moreover, TDS certificate for the assessment year 2015-16 filed and relied upon by the plaintiff also does not in any manner support the claim Digitally signed by Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA Civil DJ No.612372/2016 GUPTA Date:
Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 2022.12.24 16:12:33 Page No.17 of 20 +0530 of plaintiff for his alleged outstanding dues towards the defendant. Moreover, TDS certificate alone, without the balance sheets of the respective parties showing the entries pertaining to the specified amount due and owing from the defendant to the plaintiff cannot amount to admission of a specified liability (In this regard, reference is craved to the judgment of the Hon'ble High Court of Calcutta in C.S. 213/2016, J. K. Engineering Pvt. Ltd. vs. ANE Industries Pvt. Ltd.).
25. The defendant has also pleaded that no such incentive and performance linked reward for the financial year 2014-15 is outstanding towards the plaintiff nor plaintiff is entitled to any incentive and performance linked reward for the financial year 2015-16. Plaintiff has failed to bring on record any single document even to show as to how he has arrived at the said figure of Rs.
23059/- in respect of the alleged outstanding incentive and performance linked reward for the financial year 2014-15 or Rs. 1,00,000/- for the financial year 2015-16. It only goes to show that the aforesaid amounts of the incentive and performance linked reward, as claimed by the plaintiff, are arbitrary figures without any basis nor supported by any documentary evidence. Hence, it becomes clear that plaintiff has not been able to prove his outstanding dues towards the defendant.
26. However, as per para no.17 of the affidavit in evidence of DW-1 Sh. Satender Singh, admittedly, a sum of Rs. 1,22,029/-
Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. Digitally
signed by
Civil DJ No.612372/2016 SACHIN
SACHIN
GUPTA
Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24
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+0530
(Rupees one lakh, twenty-two thousand and twenty-nine only) is payable to the plaintiff on account of salary for the month of September, 2015, Gratuity, Conveyance and leave encashment after income tax deduction of Rs. 4,547/-. Hence, on the basis of the admitted liability in para no. 17 of the affidavit Ex. DW1/A of DW-1 Sh. Satender Singh, the amount of Rs. 1,22,029/- (Rupees one lakh, twenty-two thousand and twenty-nine only) becomes payable by the defendant company to the plaintiff as his outstanding dues. Thus, plaintiff is only entitled to recover the aforesaid amount of Rs. 1,22,029/- (Rupees one lakh, twenty-two thousand and twenty-nine only) from the defendant. Issue no. 2 is accordingly disposed of.
Issue No. 3:
Whether the plaintiff is entitled to pendente-lite and future interest, if so, at what rate? OPP
27. In view of the aforesaid findings qua issues no 1 and 2, particularly that the plaintiff has committed the breach of terms and conditions of his employment vide agreement/appointment letter dated 06.02.2007 and confirmation letter dated 01.08.2007, it is held that plaintiff is not entitled for pre-suit/pendente-lite interest. However, plaintiff shall be entitled to future interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of the decree to the date of payment. Issue no. 3 is accordingly disposed of.
Digitally signed by SACHIN SACHIN GUPTA GUPTA Date:
2022.12.24 16:13:10 +0530 Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd.Civil DJ No.612372/2016
Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 Page No.19 of 20 Relief:
28. In view of the aforesaid findings given qua the issues framed in this suit, this suit is partly decreed in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendant only for a sum of Rs. 1,22,029/- (Rupees one lakh, twenty-two thousand and twenty-nine only) alongwith future interest at the rate of 6% per annum.
29. After preparation of decree sheet, the file shall be consigned to the record room.
Digitally signedSACHIN by SACHIN GUPTA GUPTA 16:13:23 Date: 2022.12.24 +0530 Announced in the open Court (SACHIN GUPTA) today on 24th December, 2022 ADJ-04 (West District) THC/DELHI/24.12.2022 Rakesh Kumar vs. Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd.
Civil DJ No.612372/2016Date of Judgment: 24.12.2022 Page No.20 of 20