BENGALURU– The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday heard a petition by Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal seeking to quash an abetment to suicide case filed against him following the death of a company engineer last month.
During the proceedings, advocate Prasanna Kumar, representing the complainant, described Ola Electric as “worse than the East India Company,” accusing it of mistreating employees, according to an NDTV Profit report.
The case stems from the death of 38-year-old engineer K. Aravind, who worked in Ola Electric’s homologation division since 2022. Aravind allegedly died by suicide on September 28 at his Bengaluru apartment. Despite being rushed to Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, he was declared dead upon arrival.
Investigators said Aravind left behind a 28-page handwritten note accusing his superiors of persistent workplace harassment and withholding his salary and dues. His brother, Ashwin Kannan, later filed a police complaint against Aggarwal, Subrat Kumar Dash (head of homologation engineering), and other company officials, alleging their actions drove Aravind to take his own life.
Senior advocate M. S. Shyamsundar, representing Aggarwal, argued that the case should be dismissed, stating it was initially registered as an Unnatural Death Report (UDR) and should not have escalated to a fresh FIR. He also said Ola Electric had already cleared all of Aravind’s dues and was suffering reputational and financial damage from the controversy, including employee exits and declining share value.
However, Prasanna Kumar contended that the company’s conduct directly contributed to Aravind’s mental distress. He also questioned a transfer of Rs 17.46 lakh to Aravind’s account two days after his death, calling the transaction suspicious.
Ola Electric has denied all allegations, maintaining that Aravind never filed any formal complaint of harassment during his tenure and that his position did not involve direct contact with top management.
“We are deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of our colleague, Aravind, and our thoughts remain with his family during this difficult time,” the company said earlier in an official statement. “Aravind had been associated with Ola Electric for over three and a half years and was based at our headquarters in Bangalore. He never raised any complaints or grievances regarding his employment or any harassment during his tenure.”
After hearing both sides, the Karnataka High Court directed the police to continue their investigation in a fair manner while ensuring that the petitioners are not harassed. The next hearing has been scheduled for November 17. (Source: IANS)
