Ravi Venkatesan, the Co-Chairman of Infosys said that the Panaya investigation report contains enormous amount of detail, and it would not be appropriate to make the report publicly accessible. Earlier, NR Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys had written a mail to the board, where the key demand from him was to make the investigation reports public.
Previously, the founders had raised issues pertaining to the quantum of salary hike given to the CEO Vishal Sikka and the size of the severance packages given to former CFO Rajiv Bansal and former General Counsel David Kennedy. Infosys had reportedly paid Rs 23.02 crore severance pay, salary and other benefits to Rajiv Bansal in 2015, which at the time drew flak from advisory firms and analysts for an unusually high compensation given to a parting executive. The company also came under severe scrutiny, after news reports of whistleblower complaints to SEBI, alleging improprieties in acquisition of the software company Panaya emerged.
In conversation with ET Now, Ravi Venkatesan said, “ We thought through the suggestion, and decided that it would not be appropriate to make the report public. The board is of the view that the manner in which Infosys has disclosed is appropriate.” Venkatesan said that in case anybody has any issues, they could approach the regulator. Elaborating on the matter he said, “ it is entirely possible that somebody is still not satisfied and if there is any shred of evidence that they have I would suggest that they should be more forthcoming and bring it to either the attention of the regulator or Gibson, Dunn or anyone else so that it can be looked at.” Venkatesan strongly believes in the absence of evidence, people are innocent until proven guilty. He said, “I think we have to presume people are innocent until proven guilty and if you keep sort of add this at some point it degenerates to a witch hunt.”
The Co-Chairman also elaborated on the transition and transformation going on in Infosys. The veteran said that the company had seen a lot of transition, as in 2014, the co founders left the company at the same,taking with them the institutional knowledge. Further, the veteran pointed out that CEO succession can be a delicate issue in the best of times. Vishal Sikka had taken over the reigns from SD Shibulal in August 2014. Venkatesan said that Vishal Sikka came in with a lot of transformation ideas. The veteran also expressed his deep regard for NR Narayana Murthy. He said, “Murthy has been a very close mentor and friend for 10 years. The fact that I am even on the board, is because after I left Microsoft he tapped me and said now may be you can join us so I have a great deal of personal regard and affection for him.”
Earlier, Murthy had questioned the ability of the board, led by Seshasayee, on certain decisions taken by the company in the last one year, feeling that the board should have been more proactive in questioning the decisions at their end. On its part, Infosys board has denied any lapses in governance and has explicitly supported Sikka. “The Board is fully aligned with the strategic direction of Dr Vishal Sikka and is very appreciative of the initiatives taken by him in pursuance of this transformation,” R Seshasayee, the Chairman of the board, had said in a company statement.The board and Vishal Sikka had sought to downplay the issue, saying that the concerns raised have been in public domain for quite some time and that the board had already obtained shareholder approval on the matters.