The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday extended its earlier order against harassing Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and other top officials in the name of the investigation into the alleged death by suicide of an employee of the ride-hailing platform.
Aggarwal and Subrat Kumar Dash, head of vehicle homologations and regulations at Ola Electric, were booked under section 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on October 6, days after Bengaluru resident K Aravind, who had been employed at the company since 2022, allegedly died by suicide on September 28. Ola then approached the court to quash the criminal proceedings.
The police complaint was filed by Aravind’s older brother Ashwin, based on a purported 28-page death note he had left behind. Ashwin also raised questions about the fact that over Rs 17 lakh had been transferred to his account after his brother’s death. He also stated that his brother had often spoken about “toxic work conditions” at Ola Electric.
Meanwhile, Ola said in a statement that Aravind had not raised any grievance, while his role did not involve direct interaction with the top management. The company also stated that a full settlement had been provided to support his family and that it was cooperating with the investigation.
When the matter was heard by a bench of Justice Mohammad Nawaz, senior advocate M S Shyamsundar, appearing for Ola, argued that a death note alone could not be the “gospel truth”, asking whether Aravind was actually the author of the note. Ashwin’s counsel strongly opposed this submission, comparing Ola to the East India Company.
While Ola also questioned the setting aside of the original unnatural death report in favour of the new FIR, the judge clarified that the police would have to act on the complaint. Ola’s counsel also raised the issue of the publicity surrounding the case, stating that the media coverage was affecting hiring by the company as well as its shares.
The matter will be heard further on November 17.