Retail chain Subhiksha in money, land trouble

Hanumant Rao, a senior official of retail chain Subhiksha was arrested in Nagpur on the basis of complaints from employees for alleged non-payment of salaries and creating fictitious PF accounts.

Police say that Rao was booked under Section 409 for criminal breach of trust and Section 420 for cheating under the Indian Penal Code

“Subhiksha employees complained that they were not paid salaries for the last four to five months. They allege that money was not credited in their PF accounts,” Madhav Giri, Inspector - Panchpoli Thana, Nagpur

However, the retail chain has denied the allegations. A Subhisha spokesperson said, "The allegations in the complaint are completely false. There are no fictitious pf accounts etc as alleged. Mr Rao was granted bail by the courts on consideration of the facts on the case. This was a coercive attempt to harm our employee on false grounds - it is unfortunate that the process of law can be so manipulated".

However, a team will soon be sent to Pune where Subhiksha's head office for Maharashtra is located.

But this not where the controversy ends.

The Subhiksha head office in Pune is locked with a notice from the landlord marked to the vice president of the company pasted on the door.

The landlord has urged the firm to vacate the premises at the earliest. It also states that after three emailed notices, this is the final warning. But company, in its response, claims that the owner has illegally attempted to prevent access using goondas and rowdy elements.

"As we believe in strictly complying with the law, we are not reacting to this by show of force and are only moving appropriate legal process including police complaint to handle this,” it said.