Supreme Court Dismisses Ex-Google Employee's Petition Alleging Religious Discrimination At Workplace

The petitioner in person, Zahid Showka,t filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution stating that he was aggrieved by his termination and subsequent non-action on his written complaints to the Prime Minister's Office.

The bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was hearing the matter.

At the outset, the CJI noted that the matter was related to proceedings before the labour court where the petitioner had challenged his termination. The CJI explained to the Petitioner that executive functionaries like the Prime Minister's Office cannot take action over a termination arising out of a private contract as in the present case.

“Challenge the order of the labour court, an executive functionary cannot do anything.”

“This arises out of a private contract between you and the employer. The government can't direct a private company to reinstate you. If it is a termination by the govt, we could have exercised our jurisdiction.”

The bench dismissed the petition observing it to be misconceived. Liberty was granted to seek appropriate legal remedies. The petitioner had added the PMO, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Google India etc. as respondents in the peititon.

The order reads:

The writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution is misconceived. The alleged termination of the services of the petitioner, who appears in person, is stated to have been the subject matter of a proceeding before the Labour Court.

Since the cause of action arose out of a contract of employment with a private employer, recourse to these proceedings under Article 32 would not lie. However, the petitioner would be at liberty to pursue such remedies as are available in law in regard to his grievances.

Subject to the above liberty, the petition is dismissed.