Som Mittal to be tried in employee's murder: Report

NEW DELHI: India's Supreme Court cleared the way on Thursday for the former head of Hewlett Packard's Indian outsourcing arm to be prosecuted for negligence in an employee's murder.

Som Mittal was in charge of the US technology firm's operations in the southern tech hub of Bangalore in December 2005 when a 24-year-old female employee was raped and murdered by a taxi driver taking her to a night shift.

"The Supreme Court bench has reaffirmed the earlier judgement ... which refused to quash the prosecution," a lawyer for the government of Karnataka state, where Bangalore is located, told a news channel.

Mittal, now the head of India's top software trade body, the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), appealed first to a state court to drop the charges and then to the Supreme Court.

With Thursday's judgement, which upheld a ruling by a smaller bench of the top court late last month against Mittal, the outsourcing body chief has exhausted attempts to prevent a court case.

Police have accused the company's management of flouting local laws that ban women from working night shifts or require special transport and security arrangements for them.

"HP India would like to clarify that the honourable court has not pronounced either Mr Mittal or HP guilty on any count," Hewlett Packard said in a statement on Thursday, declining further comment.

NASSCOM has not commented on the ruling. The case raised questions about the security of the thousands of women working for the more than 1,500 domestic and foreign technology firms in the city that is the backbone of India's call centre business.

Other cities, including capital New Delhi, have also reported attacks on female call centre employees who frequently work night shifts to keep up with clients in western time zones.