Patni Computer Systems, India's sixth largest infotech company, is facing charges of having unfairly dismissed an Indian employee at its United Kingdom subsidiary and racial discrimination.

The company declared this pending litigation in its draft Red Herring prospectus filed 15 days ago with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for its proposed initial public offering.

The suit was filed by Anil Ramchandani against Paul Brennand (his senior at the UK subsidiary) and Patni Computer Systems, UK.

The case, which was filed with the Regional Office of Employment Tribunals in Croyden, UK, is still pending. Company officials declined to divulge the details of the case.

Although the amount under consideration could not be ascertained, as per the law, the maximum liability that Patni could face for unfair dismissal is approximately Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million).

However, if the allegation is confirmed, there is no cap on the compensation for racial discrimination charges.

Senior company executives told Business Standard, "It is mandatory for us to declare all outstanding litigation in the offer document. But we cannot comment on this, as the matter is sub judice. If there are any further developments, we will update the offer document accordingly."

Company officials said this charge would not have any bearing on the proposed public offering, which is awaiting Sebi approval.

The company has not determined the dates for the float and has not yet arrived at a final issue price for the offer.

The offer comprises an issue of 13.4 million fresh shares of face value Rs 2 each, and sale of 5.32 million shares, bringing the total issue size to 18.7 million shares.

After the issue, the equity capital of the company will be Rs 24.96 crore (Rs 249.6 million), with the promoter's shareholding reduced to 51.3 per cent, from the existing 60.8 per cent.