Infosys board has failed to uphold tenets of corporate governance: Mohandas Pai

Just two weeks back, Vishal Sikka was celebrating the completion of three years as the first non-founder CEO of one of India's most iconic company Infosys. Today, he has stepped down as the CEO after public battle that has played out over the past several months. Sikka has virtually said "enough is enough".

In an unusual and very personalised attack, the Infosys board has issued a scathing 6-page letter, putting the blame for Sikka's exit on Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy. The letter to the stock exchange said, "Mr. Murthy's continuous assault, including this latest letter, is the primary reason that the CEO, Dr. Vishal Sikka, has resigned despite strong board support."

It is not clear what letter the board is referring to but in an e-mail to advisors on the August 9th Murthy wrote, "Dr Sikka is not a CEO material but CTO material. This is the view of at least three members of the board, and not my view since I have not seen him operate from the vantage point of an Infosys board member."

Naranaya Murthy has responded to the statements from the Infosys board, he said, "I am extremely anguished by the allegations, the tone and tenor of the statements. I voluntarily left the board in 2014 and am not seeking any money, position for children or power. My concern primarily was the deteriorating standard of corporate governance which I have repeatedly brought to the notice of the Infosys board. It is below my dignity to respond to such baseless insinuations."

Sikka today said, "There has been continuous drumbeat of allegations in the last few quarters that have been sickening."

Infosys stock took a beating in trade today with Rs 22500 crore getting wiped out in market capitalisation. Pravin Rao has been appointed interim CEO and Sikka will continue as executive vice chairman. However there is uncertainty at the top which is not going down well with many investors. CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan caught up with Mohandas Pai Former HR Head, Infosys, Sandeep Parekh Founder, Finsec Law Advisors, JN Gupta Former ED, SEBI, Shriram Subramanian MD, InGovern, HP Ranina Corporate Lawyer and Amit Tandon MD, IIAS to find about the corporate governance allegations raised by the founders and how the new CEO will make this tight-rope walk.

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