Subhiksha promoter sends legal notice to Premji

R Subramanian, the managing director and founder of retail chain Subhiksha Trading Services, has sent a legal notice to Wipro chairman Azim Premji claiming damages worth Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) for his comments in a weekly magazine interview that 'investing in Subhiksha was a mistake and a lot of money has been siphoned off'.

According to lawyers familiar with the development, Premji is yet to reply to the notice. Subramanian neither responded to phone calls nor messages sent to him.

Premji had picked up a 10 per cent stake in Subhiksha through his investment arm, Zash Investment, for around Rs 230 crore (Rs 2.30 billion) in 2008.

The stake was bought from ICICI Ventures.

A spokesperson at Zash Investments said, "We are not aware of this suit, hence, we cannot comment on it."

According to reports, Premji is planning to write off its investment in Subhiksha. Zash Investment and other investors, including ICICI Ventures, HCL Infosystems and Kotak Mahindra Bank, have moved the Madras high court for an investigation into Subhiksha.