Murthy still not happy as Nilekani says no wrong doing in Panaya deal

Infosys co-founder and former chairman N R Narayana Murthy on Tuesday said none of his questions were answered by the board.

Earlier this year, he had raised questions over corporate governance issues and pay hikes to former chief financial officer.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, he said, “I stand by every question on poor governance raised in my speech to Infosys shareholders dated August 29, 2017. The fact remains that none of these questions have been answered by the Infosys board with the transparency it deserves. I am disappointed.”  Earlier, Infosys had stated that the severance package to the former CFO Rajiv Bansal could have been better handled.

Core question

“The core question still is how and why the Infosys board approved an unusual and unprecedented severance payment agreement of 1,000% (of the standard Infosys employment contracts) to the former CFO, and why the board did not disclose this information proactively and much earlier. Sadly, it appears we will no longer know the truth,” Murthy said.

Infosys on Tuesday reiterated that there was no wrongdoing in the firm's Panaya deal.

Murthy’s former colleague at Infosys and company’s chairman, Nandan Nilekani declined to make Panaya report public on pretext of confidentiality adding, “I believe that all stakeholders acted out of a strong passion for Infosys, wanting what they believed to be the best for the company and to see it succeed. In light of my review of these matters, I am fully persuaded, as is the entire Board, that the conclusions of the independent investigations are correct. This Board and I are committed to the highest standards of professionalism and will deal promptly and decisively with any governance issues should they ever come up in the future.”

However, when questioned Nilekani didn’t come clear on whether the board gave a clean chit to former CEO & MD Vishal Sikka.

Sikka and the IT major had signed a non-disparagement clause, when former stepped down from the post of Executive Vice Chairman.

In a statement, Infosys said that Nilekani conducted a review of all the external investigations into certain anonymous complaints the company had previously received.

The review, according to the company, covered a range of matters, including the acquisition of Panaya which was completed by the company in February 2015, and the severance payments to the former CFO.

The investigation involved interviews of over 50 witnesses globally, a review of company policies, board minutes, public filings and internal documents, the collection, search and review by Gibson Dunn attorneys of many thousands of internal emails and attachments, the use of forensic accounting experts to analyse technical and financial information, the review of media accounts and public records in multiple countries, the review of the previous investigation reports issued by CAM and supporting documentation, and other investigative measures.