Karnataka HC asks Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal and others to cooperate in engineer's suicide probe

The Karnataka High Court has directed Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO & MD of Ola Electric Technologies Private Limited, and Subrat Kumar Das—Head of Homologation Engineering —to actively cooperate in an ongoing criminal investigation into the suicide of engineer K Aravind, an employee of the company.

Justice Mohammad Nawaz on Wednesday also extended the interim protection granted to them, directing police not to harass the petitioners in the guise of investigation, till November 17. The court was hearing the petition filed by the petitioners challenging the FIR registered against them.

The case stems from an FIR filed by Aravind's brother Ashwin Kannan with the Subramanyapura police, alle­ging abetment to suicide under Section 108 of the BNS Act.

The deceased had allegedly left behind a death note alleging workplace harassment and denial of his salary dues and other perks by the petitioners.

During the hearing, the petitioners contested the authenticity of the note, arguing it might have been drafted by the complainant rather than the deceased. They also claimed the circulation of images and interviews relating to Aravind's death had damaged the firm's reputation, impacted its share price and triggered employee departures.

In contrast, counsel for the complainant characterized Ola Electric as being akin to the “East India Company”, accusing the firm's officials of attempting to shift blame.

The court was told that while the police have issued notices for investigation, the petitioners have replied only with letters rather than appearing for interrogation. The court asked the petitioners to cooperate with the investigation.

The court further stated any final report filed against the petitioners can be challenged in due course.