Explained: Why Has A Swiss Court Convicted 4 Members Of Hinduja Family?

The Hinduja family members were also accused of recruiting their staff without the proper paperwork, however, the family noted that the Swiss embassy in India endorsed the contracts of their employees

Four members of the billionaire Hinduja family were convicted by a Switzerland court for ‘illegally exploiting poorly paid servants’ at their luxurious villa in Geneva, Switzerland. The sentencing issued a prison sentence of four and a half years to Prakash Hinduja and his wife Kamal Hinduja. Their son, Ajay Hinduja and his wife Namrata, received a sentence of less than four years.

Case Explained

The case is related to allegations of human trafficking, exploitation on the Hinduja family. The prosecutors claimed that the family allegedly seized the passports of their staffs and underpaid them severely. The Hinduja family has notably been living in Switzerland for decades now. 

Other allegations on the family members include paying the staff in Indian currency and not allowing them to leave the villa premises without permission. The members were found guilty of taking illegal advantage of their staff hired in India. 

Prakash, Kamal, Ajay, and Namrata Hinduja also faced the allegation of overworking their staff for nearly 18 hours per day. They were also accused of paying their employees a mere fraction of the standardised rates in Switzerland of 7 Swiss francs, i.e., $7.84 dollars per day.

The Hinduja family members were also accused of recruiting their staff without the proper paperwork, however, the family noted that the Swiss embassy in India endorsed the contracts of their employees.

The human trafficking charges against the billionaire family were dismissed by the court after it ruled that the employees were well aware of what they were getting into.

Who Are The Hindujas?

The Hinduja family led by Gopichand Hinduja recently emerged as the richest in the United Kingdom. The British-Indian family group works in several sectors including oil, finance, media, real estate, and automotive, among others. 

The conglomerate was founded by Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja. Parmanand’s four sons Srichand P Hinduja, Gopichand, Ashok, and Prakash have diversified the conglomerate. Gopichand assumed the role of the chairman of the Group after Srichand Hinduja passed away in May last year.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the spokesperson of the family said there has not been imprisonment of the Hinduja Family members and the human trafficking charges have been dismissed.

"The four Swiss-national members of the Hinduja Family, Kamal & Prakash Hinduja, Namrata & Ajay Hinduja, have not been subjected to any imprisonment, conviction, sentence or detention. Per Swiss Law procedures, the lower court's judgement is rendered ineffective and inoperative as the presumption of innocence is paramount until and unless a final judgment by the highest adjudicating authority is enforced," the statement said.

"It may be noted that the case has no complainants left anymore and they had declared in the court that they were led into signing statements that they didn't even understand. They had neither intended to nor initiated such proceedings. All of them further testified that the four Hinduja Family Members treated them with “respect, dignity and like family," the statement added.