Subhiksha staff awaits Oct '08 salaries

Troubled times do not seem to end for Subhiksha, a discount retailer. CNBC-TV18 learns that employees have been waiting for their salaries for the past three months.

Here is a transcript of Priyal Guliani’s comments on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

CNBC-TV18 has a copy of the "new year mail" sent by Subhiksha's Managing Director R Subramanian to its top management. The mail, which describes year 2008 as a year of pain, comes with a reassurance that the salaries of its employees for the month of October will be paid very soon. The mail dated January 1, 2009 also mentions that the last two days of the year were "madly action packed" and they had to ensure that bank facilities of Rs 125 crore is not endangered. It further sets the timeframe in which the money due for salaries and rent will be released, giving a total time frame of 3–4–5 days, not more. However, CNBC-TV18 learns from sources that salaries have not yet been paid so far.

However, in response to a query sent by CNBC-TV18 to R Subramanian an spokesperson said, "no such mail has been sent by the managing director."

A company spokesperson denied the very existence of the e-mail sent by the MD to the top management. On the non-payment of salaries, the spokesperson said, "We do not comment on internal staff issues and all contractual obligations of the organization are met."

Sources tell us that employees of Subhiksha have knocked on the doors of the labour court in Gurgaon and in Pune as even now they claim the salaries have not been paid. But the management claims that they are unaware of any such case.