FIR against 5 companies for functioning on poll day

Days after Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar indicated action against private companies for allegedly functioning on April 24 and not letting their employees vote in the general polls that day, police today filed FIR against five such firms.
Police said FIRs have been filed against the companies evoking various sections of the IPC and 135(B) 3 of the Representation of Peoples Act.
On April 24, election authorities had lodged a police complaint against the companies at an IT park here for working on the day of Lok Sabha polling in violation of rules and sent back around 2,000 employees home to enable them to vote.

Poll officials said they had received complaints from employees of IT firms including Wipro that they had been asked to report for duty despite the provision in law that employers and commercial establishments must grant holiday with wages for their employees on polling day.
The state government had declared a holiday for the polls well in advance and requested IT firms to comply.
Praveen Kumar had stated on April 23 that penal action would be taken against those violating the statutory provision giving workers paid leave on poll day.