(Stamp)

IN THE COURT OF CIVIL JUDGE/ PRINCIPAL CIVIL JUDGE/ CIVIL JUDGE

SENIOR DIVISION, AT CITY CIVIL COURT, BENGALURU, KARNATAKA

CIVIL SUIT NO. ___ OF 2023

MR. AJAY KUMAR, s/o Ashok Kumar, aged 35 years,

resident of House No. 456, XYZ Colony,

Sarjapur Road, Bangalore – 560102

...plaintiff

VS

ACC Strategic Partners LLP,

123, ABC Street, Koramangala,,

Bangalore – 560034

…defendant
WRITTEN STATEMENT FILED ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT UNDER ORDER

VIII OF CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, 1909

I, ACC strategic partnership, through its authorized signatory (hereby referred as “the

defendant”), MOST RESPECTFULLY BEG TO SHOWETH:-

1. The Defendant denies the allegations made in the Plaint and states that they are baseless,

unfounded and without any merit.

2. The Defendant specifically denies that they have committed any act of breach of contract, as

alleged in the plaint.

3. The Defendant further submits that the Plaintiff's plaint fails to disclose a valid cause of action

against the Defendant, and that the Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be

granted.

4. The Defendant raises the following preliminary objections to the Plaintiff's plaint, as follows-

PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS:

1. The Plaintiff's complaint is vague, ambiguous and lacks specificity, which has caused

confusion and prejudice to the Defendant.

ON MERITS:

1. That my client sent an offer letter to Mr. Ajay Kumar to appoint him as a Senior Software

Developer at ACC Strategic Partners LLP.

2. The offer letter was received by my client on 5 April, 2021. The letter was accepted and

signed on 10 April, 2021. According to the letter, the joining date of my client was 1 May, 2021.

3. The offer letter had all the roles and responsibilities expected for the employees.

Paragraph 6 of the letter stated that, ‘in case of unexpected circumstances affecting the survival

of the LLP, the employee can be laid off without being provided with remuneration’ . The offer

letter has been attested to the end of the document as Annexure I.

4. That my client entered into an employee – employer contract which was signed by Mr.

Ajay Kumar. Clause 12 of the contract states that, ‘in case of unexpected circumstances affecting

the survival of the LLP, the employee can be laid off without being provided with remuneration.’

The contract has been attested and attached to the end of the legal notice as Annexure II.

5. ACC Strategic Partners LLP had reported significant profits the previous year before

hiring Mr. Ajay Kumar amounting to INR 5,00,00,000 (five crores) in total profits. The financial

records and statements has been attested at the end of this notice as Annexure III.

6. After hiring Mr. Ajay Kumar, the company was moving towards a successful path but

covid hit at the end of year of 2021. It being an unforeseen circumstances, my client started

cutting down on expenses in order to sustain the LLP.

7. The feedback given by other employees, clients and team members about MR. Kumar’s

contribution was for the performance review of the Mr. Ajay Kumar from 10 May, 2021 to 10

October, 2021. It was the routine 6 month feedback of a new employee. The dated feedback

forms have been attached to the end of this legal notice as Annexure IV.
8. That my client took up new strategies and measures to cut down on costs and ensure that

receivables are being received from the clients.

9. That my client in the Pandemic situation was not able to meet the client’s needs as there

was lack of cash inflow affecting the financial decisions of the LLP.

10. The financial records from the year 2021 – 2023 of my client has been audited and shows

that there has been significant decrease in the profits made in comparison to the previous years.

The financial records and statements has been attested at the end of this notice as Annexure V.

11. That my client, as a next measure, had to lay off employees. This move is supported by

the employee – employer contract and the offer letter that has been accepted and signed by Mr.

Ajay Kumar.

12. The salary discrepancies filed by Mr. Ajay Kumar, has been addressed to and emails

were sent by my client describing the situation and what can be done. The emails and all

communication has been attached to the end of this legal notice as Annexure VI.

13. The fact that deficiency of service in part of the plaintiff has held no compensation for mental

agony on behalf of the respondent.

14. In the case of SHENOY Versus CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA LNIND 1982 KER 196

The relationship between an employer and an employee is normally governed by the terms of the

contract between them. The employer can always stipulate the conditions of service including

remuneration. When the employee agrees about such terms, he will be bound by them. The

normal rule in contract of service is "no work no pay".

Therefore, here the employer is justifies in exercising their rights of terminating the employee.
15. In the case of (2) Venkatavardan v. Semliam Saw Mills AIR 1955 Madras 597 [LNIND 1955

MAD 23] a learned singled Judge of the Madras High Court held that the jurisdiction of the

authority under the , payment of Wages Act was limited to claims arising out of deduction of

wages and delay in payment of wages only. It was clear that wages was dependent upon the

terms of the contract and not otherwise and if the terms of the contract did not show that the

employee was entitled to continue his service irrespective of his not attending the work than the

amount claimed for the period during which he did not work could not be considered to be wages

within the definition of the terms under the Act. In the case of (3) Divisional Engineer v. G. I. P.

Railways, Madras, AIR 1955 SC 295 [LNIND 1955 SC 19] at page 296 the Supreme Court after

referring to the definition of the wages in , Sec. 2 (vi) of the Payment of Wages Act observed

that shorn of all verbiage, wages are remuneration payable by an employer to his employee for

services rendered according to the terms of the contract between them.

In the present case, the employer had the right to reduce the wages as there was no clause

mentioned in the contract that the wages will remain the same irrespective of hardships or losses.
 PRAYER

Wherefore, Defendant respectfully requests that this Hon’ble Court:

• Grant summary judgment in favour of Defendant on all counts;

• Dismiss the Plaint with prejudice;

• Award Defendant a reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in defending this action;

Any other suitable order or direction that this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts

and circumstances of the case may also be passed in favour of the defendant.

Place: Bangalore, Karnataka

Date: 18th April, 2023

IN THE COURT OF CIVIL JUDGE AT DISTRICT COURT, BENGALURU

Civil Suit No.______ of 2023

Mr. AJAY KUMAR

……… Plaintiff

Versus

ACC STRATEGIC PARTNERS

.…… Defendant
 AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF PLAINT

I, Priya Sharma, signed authority on behalf of ACC STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP, Education:

literate, Occupation: Managing Director, the defendant does hereby solemnly affirm and state an

oath as under: -

1. That the plaintiff as such, is fully conversant of the facts deposed to herein below.

2. That the contents of paragraph 1 to 12 of the accompanying plaint are true to my personal

knowledge, those of the contents of paragraph 13 and 14 are believed to be true to my belief on

the basis of precedent cases and judgments.

3. That Annexure No. 1 to 6 annexed hereto with this application are the true photocopies/

copies/ certified copies of their respective originals and are duly complied with the same.

Date: 18 April, 2023

Place: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Ms. Priya Sharma

(defendant)

VERIFICATION

I, the above-named defendant does hereby verify that the contents of paragraphs 1 to 21 of this

affidavit are true to my personal knowledge. No part of it is false and nothing material has been

concealed.

Place: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Dated: 18 April, 2023

Ms. PRIYA SHARMA

(Defendant)

IN THE COURT OF CIVIL JUDGE AT DISTRICT COURT, BENGALURU

Civil Suit No.______ of 2023

Mr. AJAY KUMAR

……… Plaintiff

Versus

ACC STRATEGIC PARTNERS

.…… Defendant

LIST OF DATES AND EVENTS

Date: 18th April, 2023
Place: Bengaluru, Karnataka