A Delhi court orders an FIR against former employees of a fashion label for secretly accepting orders from the brand’s customers

A New Delhi court recently ordered the Delhi Police to register a first information report (FIR) against former employees of fashion designer Pallavi Mohan for criminal breach of trust.

Judicial Magistrate First Class Akshay Sharma ordered registration of an FIR on a complaint filed by Mohan in which she alleged that her former employees, Manu Uniyal and Surender Kumar, were secretly taking orders from her customers.

The complaint, which also includes allegations of forgery, further states that the employees in question were reportedly producing high-end women’s clothing using the “Not So Serious” brand, design and materials, directing payments to their own accounts and those of their family members and affiliated companies , including Kalpana Uniyal and Manusmriti Ayurveda Pvt. z o. o

Mohan further alleged that the proceeds of the illegal activities were transferred to accounts belonging to their relatives, including Gunja Devi, Kumudh Kumari, Nand Kishore, Rachit Uniyal and Shashank Raturi.

The alleged offenses fall under Sections 408 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Mohan alleged that despite her initial complaint to the Delhi Police, no FIR was registered, following which she filed a petition under Section 156 section 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure through his lawyers, Sumit Gehlot and Nikhil Bhalla from Fidelegal Advocates & Solicitors.

“…this court finds without hesitation that the cognizable offense of criminal breach of trust by an employee is punishable. It is clearly seen that the offense under 408 IPC has been committed by alleged Manu Uniyal and Surender Kumar,” the court said.

It further stated that proper field testing is required as suppliers and buyers require it. The court asked for a report on the status of the case to be presented at the next hearing, which will be held on October 18.