The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against Wipro Chairman Azim Premji in a labour law-related complaint, observing that a person cannot be prosecuted merely because of a high corporate designation.
Justice Zafeer Ahmad held that there were no specific allegations showing Premji’s direct role in the alleged violation and said the summoning order issued by the trial court was passed mechanically without proper judicial reasoning.
Background Of The Case
The matter arose from Complaint Case No. 2882 of 2016 pending before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Lucknow. The complaint had led to a summoning order dated February 8, 2017 against Azim Premji and another accused.
Appearing for the applicant, counsel argued that Premji, as Chairman and Managing Director of Wipro, had no involvement in the day-to-day functioning of the company’s Lucknow office. The defence also informed the court that security services at the establishment had been outsourced to G4S Secure Solutions India Private Limited under an agreement executed in March 2015.
According to the submissions, the outsourced agency was independently responsible for wages, provident fund, ESI contributions and compliance with labour laws concerning its employees. It was also argued that Premji neither supervised the contractor’s staff nor managed operations at the Lucknow office.
The applicant further contended that he became aware of the proceedings only after bailable warrants were issued and that no prior notice had been served on him.
While examining the complaint and records, the High Court noted that the prosecution sought to proceed against Premji solely because he held the post of Chairman and Managing Director of Wipro.
The bench observed, “Criminal liability cannot be fastened in a mechanical manner merely on the basis of designation unless the statute specifically provides for vicarious liability.”
The court also found fault with the summoning order passed by the magistrate, describing it as “cryptic and non-speaking.” According to the judgment, the order did not discuss the material on record, the ingredients of the alleged offence, or the specific role attributed to the applicant.
Justice Ahmad further stressed that summoning an accused in a criminal case is a serious matter and requires proper application of judicial mind before issuing process.
The court also took note of an earlier order passed by a coordinate bench in a connected matter involving similar facts, where proceedings had already been quashed.
Holding that continuation of proceedings against Premji would amount to abuse of the process of law, the High Court allowed the application filed under Section 482 CrPC.
The court quashed the summoning order dated February 8, 2017 and all consequential proceedings against Azim Premji in Complaint Case No. 2882 of 2016 pending before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Lucknow.
Case Details
Case Title: Azim Premji vs State of U.P. Thru. Secy. Home Civil Sectt. Lucknow and Another
Case Number: Application U/S 482 No. 3262 of 2017
Judge: Justice Zafeer Ahmad
Decision Date: May 20, 2026
