SHATTERED DREAMS & UNPAID DUES: Pune Realty Founder Fires 17 via Email, Blames “Unauthorized Hiring” as Staff Cries Foul

PUNE, MAHARASHTRA – For seventeen families in Pune, the ground beneath them collapsed not with an earthquake, but with a notification ping. In a move described by staff as “brutal” and “illegal, Sandeep Suri, founder of investment Reality Group (IRG), abruptly shuttered operations via email, leaving his entire workforce jobless instantly and citing a “heavy heart” while refusing to meet salary commitments.

But what began as a plea of financial destitution and failing health has spiraled into a vicious battle of allegations, involving identity confusion, personal bank transfers, and employees accusing the founder of fabricating lies to escape statutory payouts

The “Health” Defense & Blame Game

The crisis point arrived when Suri sent a mass communication announcing the immediate cessation of business operations. Citing severe health issues and a “severe financial crisis,” he stated he could no longer pay salaries. However, in a twist that has enraged his former team. Suri attempted to wash his hands of the liability by shifting blame onto his business partner, Vivek Shrivastava, and Director of Sales, Harish Sharma.

Suri alleged that the staff was hired “without his knowledge” and at “higher salaries” than the company could afford-essentially claiming he was unaware of the very people working in his office.

“A Cruel Joke”: Employees Fight Back with Proof

The employees, now facing financial ruin, have slammed Suri’s “unauthorized hiring” claim as a desperate fabrication

“it is a blatant lie, states a collective rebuttal from the team. A united front of employees including Harish Sharma. HR Manager Rütuja Yadav. Aditya Giri. Nikhil Pardeshi and Ashok Chandaliya-have come forward with damning evidence. They categorically assert that Suri did not just know about the hirings-he personally approved them.

Staff members point to signed offer letters and detailed accounts of final interviews conducted personally by Sun “How can a founder interview a candidate, negotiate their package, sign their offer letter, and then claim he didn’t know they were hired?” asked one distraught employee, Co-founder Vivek Shrivastava has also backed the employees, clarifying his role and refuting Suri’s narrative..

To prove that high-cost expansion was a top-down mandate, Harish Sharma cited the “Romma Lal Precedent” a negotiation to hire a VP of HR at a staggering 40 Lakhs PA. “This wasn’t a rogue sales team.” Sharma argues. “This was an aggressive expansion strategy mandated by the Directors.”

Shadowy Finance & The Identity Crisis

Adding a darker, legally precarious layer to the scandal is a fundamental confusion over who the employees were actually working for. The email thread reveals a bizarre discrepancy in the company’s identity, with business being conducted under multiple names: “Investment Reality Group” and “Imaginative Realty Gateway LLP.”

HR Manager Rutuja Yadav has formally raised this as a major compliance violation, demanding Immediate clarification from Suri on whether the entity is “Investment Reality LLP, Imaginative Really Gateway LLP, or any other legally registered firm.”

This ambiguity is compounded by allegations of financial irregularity

Personal Transfers: Salaries were frequently paid from Surr’s personal bank accounts rather than official company channels, often without a “salary” description

No Payslips: Employees allege there were specific instructions not to issue payslips, raising fears that the “identity confusion” was a deliberate tactic to dodge legal compliance and provident fund obligations.

The Demand: “60 Days or We Go to Court”

The sudden termination without notice is a direct violation of the Maharashtra Shops & Establishments Act, 2017 (which mandates 30 days’ notice) and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Refusing to be silenced by the “health card” played by the founder, the austed employees have issued a unified, legally-backed ultimatum They are demanding:

Immediate disbursement of all pending salaries.

60 days’ gross salary as severance in lieu of the legally mandated notice period.

Reimbursement of personal funds employees spent to keep the company running.

A formal retraction of the defamatory “unauthorized hiring” allegations

A Pattern of Exploitation?

As the deadline for payment looms, the atmosphere is electric with tension Employees have made it clear that if a payment schedule is not released by the end of the business day, they will escalate the matter to the Labour Commissioner’s Office. Furthermore, they are preparing to file criminal complaints under IPC Sections 406 (Criminal Breach of Trust) and

420 (Cheating).

“This isn’t just about money; it’s about dignity,” says a source close to the development, noting that this mirrors a recurring pattern” confirmed by previous ex-employees of the founder

For the 17 employees of the firm whatever its true legal name may be the “heavy heart” of their employer offers.no.comfort against the neavy burden of sudden unemployment They don’t want sympathy they want justice.