New Delhi: A Swiss court sentenced four members of the Hinduja family to up to four and a half years in jail on Friday for exploiting domestic workers at their Geneva villa.

The criminal court, however, cleared the members of a billionaire family of charges that they engaged in illegal human trafficking of their servants, mostly illiterate Indians, who were employed at their luxurious lakeside villa in Geneva.
According to news agency Associated Press, none of the four family members were in court in Geneva though a fifth defendant - the family's business manager Najib Ziazi attended the proceedings. He received an 18 months suspended sentence.

The Switzerland court found Indian-born businessman Prakash Hinduja, his wife, son, and daughter-in-law guilty of exploiting workers and providing unauthorised employment.
The human trafficking charges were dismissed as the court stated that the staff understood the conditions they were agreeing to.

The Hinduja family, who have been residing in Switzerland for decades, were accused of confiscating workers' passports, paying them in rupees instead of Swiss francs, restricting their movement, and forcing them to work excessively long hours for meager wages. Prakash Hinduja had previously been convicted on similar, albeit lesser charges in 2007, but prosecutors allege that he continued to employ people without proper documentation.