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Britain’s richest household has been accused of egregious mistreatment of home workers at their Lake Geneva villa.
Prosecutor Yves Bertossa informed a Swiss courtroom the billionaire Hinduja household spent extra on their pet canine than on considered one of their servants, who earned as little as £6.2 for gruelling 18-hour workdays, seven days per week.
He cited a funds doc titled “Pets” that confirmed the household allotted 8,584 Swiss francs (£7,615) yearly for his or her pet canine.
Mr Bertossa additionally famous the absence of specified working hours or days off within the workers contracts, arguing that the workers have been basically on the household’s beck and name, with confiscated passports limiting their freedom.
In defence, the Hinduja household’s attorneys stated the workers have been handled respectfully and had lodging supplied.
“The wage can’t merely be lowered to what they have been paid in money” as meals and lodging was coated, stated Yael Hayat, a lawyer for household scion Ajay Hinduja. Eighteen-hour working days was additionally an exaggeration, she stated.
The household’s attorneys argued that some workers voluntarily returned to work in Geneva a number of occasions, implying satisfaction with their situations in comparison with their conditions in India.
The prosecutors sought jail sentences for Ajay Hinduja and his spouse Namrata, together with an order for the household to pay 1 million Swiss francs in courtroom prices and contribute 3.5 million francs to a compensation fund for the workers.
The defence stated Mr Bertossa’s allegations have been deceptive and asserted that the household’s hiring practices had been improved and now adhered to native rules. In the course of the trial, Ajay Hinduja testified that he was not well-informed concerning the workers’s working situations as a result of their recruitment was managed by the Hinduja Group in India.
However that they had since stopped casual cost practices and all hiring was now performed regionally by means of a 3rd get together.
“You gained’t discover a single worker who says they have been employed by Ajay,” Hayat informed the courtroom. “The truth is he is aware of nothing as he was elsewhere.”
Mr Bertossa sought extreme penalties, together with over 5 years of imprisonment for senior members of the family and important monetary penalties.
He additionally criticised absence from the trial of senior members of the family Prakash and Kamal Hinduja suggesting it mirrored contempt for the authorized course of.
