New Delhi: In a major relief to PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Ltd (PwC), the Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a criminal petition filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by its former Chief Finance Officer Sarvesh Mathur.
The plea was filed challenging the order dated October 7, 2020 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Tis Hazari Courts that had set aside the summoning order issued by the Trial Court against PwC and its senior executives in connection with Mathur’s defamation complaint.
Mathur contended that PwC, through its spokesperson, called him a “disgruntled employee” in the articles published in the Economic Times and Outlook Magazine during 2017 and the same constitutes an offence under Section 499 read with Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code
In the order passed on Friday, the high court rejected the contentions made by Mathur and observed that his complaint does not satisfy the ingredients of defamation under the Indian Penal Code, and therefore, no criminal offense is made out against PwC and its officials in this regard.
Senior advocate P.K. Dubey argued the matter on behalf of PwC along with Advocates from Karanjawala & Co, Ruby Singh Ahuja (Senior Partner), Samarjeet Patnaik (Partner), Vishal Gehrana, Vikas Gogne, Lakshya Khanna, Satyam Chaturvedi, and Akshay Aggarwal.
Mathur appeared in person.
–IANS