[ By Bobby Anthony ]The Madras High Court has issued a notice after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged bribing of government officials by software exporter Cognizant to obtain key permits for its offices in Tamil Nadu as well as Maharashtra.The plea was filed by M L Ravi, who is president of a political party, an advocate and...
The Madras High Court has issued a notice after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged bribing of government officials by software exporter Cognizant to obtain key permits for its offices in Tamil Nadu as well as Maharashtra.
The plea was filed by M L Ravi, who is president of a political party, an advocate and a social activist, according to a copy of the PIL filed with the Madras High Court.
The petition has made Cognizant and L&T as respondents, besides the Tamil Nadu government, the state vigilance and anti-corruption watchdog, as well as the CBI. It has sought directions to the CBI to probe the case under the supervision of the Madras High Court.
It may be recalled that in 2019, Cognizant had disclosed that it had arrived at a settlement with US investigators of the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) about its involvement in illegal payouts to secure building permits for its offices in India.
In September 2019, Cognizant’s former top executive Sridhar Thiruvengadam had arrived at a settlement with the SEC and agreed to pay USD 50,000 as well as collaborate with investigators.
In March 2019, India’s Income Tax Department had sought documents from Cognizant related to illegal payouts.