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Breach of trust by an employee

I was working in Pvt co.; the company has a contract with me for not sharing any information with other people.  I have some data which prove IT tax evolution. Should company sue on my toward a Breach of Trust? What would face the problem?

If you disclose that data to any other person, then the company can initiate legal proceeding against you.  According to the terms and condition of the contract, you cannot share confidential information with another person. Every arrangement has a confidentiality clause because the company wants to keep its information secret.

Upon spreading the information a civil, as well as criminal proceeding, may be initiated against you. As per your question, the tax-related information is confidential so that you have to keep it secret. Section 7374 & 75 of the Indian Contract Act empowers the party to the contract to claim compensation for the breach of contract. When you disclose the information, it seems that you have breached the agreement thereupon another party to the agreement have the right to claim damages.

If the company incurs any loss due to the disclosure of such confidential information, then it can initiate criminal proceeding against you. The loss of reputation of the company due to the disclosure of such information is sufficient to launch criminal prosecution against you.

If that information leaks out apart from keeping all precautions, then no liability, either civil or criminal, will accrue against you. If you prove that there was a Bonafide mistake in leaking the information, then you can protect yourself. In order to establish a Bonafide mistake, you can adduce evidence that what kind of precautions you took for the safety of that information. If the court satisfies that the precautions were sufficient, then the court may exonerate you from all liabilities.

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Shivendra Pratap Singh

Advocate

Advocate Shivendra, practicing law since 2005, specializes in criminal and matrimonial cases, extensive litigatin experience before the High Court, Sessions court & Family Court. He established kanoonirai.com in 2014 to provide dependable and pragmatic legal support. Over the years, he has successfully assisted thousands of clients, making the platform a trusted resource for criminal and matrimonial dispute resolution in India.

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