Who are Hindujas and why is UK’s richest family in legal trouble?



A Swiss court docket has sentenced 4 members of the rich Hinduja household to as much as 4 years and 6 months in jail on Friday for exploiting their home employees.
The Hinduja household, recognized for his or her huge enterprise empire spanning numerous sectors, tops the Sunday Instances record of the UK’s 350 richest folks with an estimated fortune of £37 billion. Nevertheless, Gopi Hinduja himself was not named within the case.
The Hinduja Group, managed by the household, has numerous enterprise pursuits starting from vans and lubricants to banking and cable tv.
The group was based by Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja, who began his service provider banking and commerce companies in British India earlier than shifting to Bombay in 1914 and increasing internationally to Iran in 1919.
The brothers later shifted their base to London in 1979, the place it stays at present, with the group claiming to make use of 200,000 folks worldwide.
Srichand P Hinduja, the eldest son, took over the reins in 1935 and is credited with founding IndusInd Financial institution. Following his demise in Could 2023, Gopichand Hinduja assumed the function of Chairman and is acknowledged for the Group’s ventures into the ability and infrastructure sectors.
The household’s wealth and affect have been vital, with Forbes rating them because the seventh richest in India and the 146th richest globally lately.
What are the Hindujas accused of?
In a latest court docket case in Switzerland, Indian-born businessman Prakash Hinduja and his relations have been discovered responsible of exploiting employees and offering unauthorized employment. The court docket dismissed the human trafficking prices, saying that the workers understood the situations they have been agreeing to.
The Hinduja household, long-time residents of Switzerland, confronted accusations of confiscating employees’ passports, paying them in rupees as an alternative of Swiss francs, proscribing their motion, and forcing them to work excessively lengthy hours for low wages. This was not Prakash Hinduja’s first offense, as he had been convicted on comparable, although much less extreme, prices in 2007. Prosecutors alleged that he continued to make use of folks with out correct documentation regardless of the earlier conviction.
It was disclosed final week that the household had reached an undisclosed settlement with the plaintiffs. Swiss authorities have already seized numerous property, together with treasured stones and jewellery, which may very well be used to cowl authorized charges and potential penalties ensuing from the case.





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