The Karnataka High Court has issued a stay on the criminal proceedings against the Managing Director and Human Resources Head of Slice Small Finance Bank, following a complaint from the bank’s former Chief Legal and Strategy Officer.
Legal Background and Interim Relief
On Tuesday, a vacation bench led by Justice R. Nataraj granted interim relief to Slice’s Managing Director Rajan Bajaj and HR Head Yudan Wang by staying further criminal proceedings against them. The stay was applied to petitions filed by Bajaj and Wang seeking to quash the criminal case initiated by Bhawna Sangwan, the bank’s former Chief Legal and Strategy Officer.
Series of Legal Actions
Bhawna Sangwan, whose employment was terminated in April, filed a lawsuit against Slice, which resulted in an interim order preventing her from disclosing any confidential information. In response, Sangwan countersued to secure an interim order to leave her position at the company vacant. She also lodged a criminal complaint in Guwahati, accusing the company of criminal intimidation and breach of trust.
According to Sangwan, she was threatened to withdraw her Guwahati case while at a café in Bengaluru. As a result, she filed a fresh complaint in Bengaluru alleging criminal intimidation and insult to her modesty by Slice’s management.
High Court’s Decision
The Karnataka High Court, upon reviewing the situation, decided to stay the criminal proceedings related to Sangwan’s latest complaint. The court noted that the Guwahati High Court had already stayed the earlier criminal case filed by Sangwan.
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“Apparently, the latest proceedings initiated by respondent No.2 (the former legal officer) against the petitioners appear to be an abuse of the process of law. In that view of the matter, all further proceedings in Crime No.160/2026 registered by respondent No.1 for the offences punishable under Sections 351(3), 79 read with Section 3(5) of BNS, 2023 is stayed, in so far as petitioners are concerned,” stated the Karnataka High Court’s order.
Allegations in the Bengaluru Complaint
In the Bengaluru complaint, Sangwan alleged that on May 9, at around 11:30 PM, while she was at a Starbucks in Koramangala, an unidentified man approached her. The man reportedly displayed photographs of her children and other unsettling images, threatening her to withdraw the FIR she filed in Guwahati, failing which she faced threats of being killed.
The Koramangala police registered a case under Sections 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 79 (insult to the modesty of a woman) read with Section 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against Rajan Bajaj, Yudan Wang, and others. Bajaj and Wang have challenged this FIR before the Karnataka High Court. Senior Advocate Arun Kumar represented their case in the hearing.
