Upset By Infosys Board's Charges, Narayana Murthy Responds
New Delhi: Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy today said he is not seeking "any money, position for children, or power", while expressing anguish over the board's allegations that his "continuous assault" led to Vishal Sikka quitting as CEO.
Murthy, who has been in a long-running battle with the board and top management of the company he founded with six others over three decades, said his concern primarily was the "deteriorating standard" of corporate governance at Infosys. He also questioned the investigations that cleared the technology major of all charges of mismanagement.
In a surprise announcement, Infosys today said Sikka has quit as CEO after nearly three years at the post. It issued a strongly-worded statement earlier in the day blaming Murthy's "continuous assault" as the primary reason for Sikka quitting as CEO.
The company's board alleged that Murthy has repeatedly made "inappropriate" demands, which are inconsistent with his stated desire for stronger governance and that his "campaign" has intensified over time. "I am extremely anguished by the allegations, tone and tenor of the statements... I will reply to these allegations in the right manner and in the right forum and at the appropriate time," Murthy said in an emailed statement.
Murthy said several shareholders, who have read the whistle-blower report, had told him that an "impartial and objective investigation" is not held in the manner in which Infosys' probe happened.
"...several shareholders who have read the whistle-blower report have told me that it is hard to believe a report produced by a set of lawyers hired by a set of accused, giving a clean chit to the accused and the accused refusing to disclose why they got a clean chit!" Murthy quipped.
He further said: "They say that this is not the way an impartial and objective investigation should be held". Infosys Chairman R Seshasayee responded to Murthy's allegations saying the suggestion that renowned law and audit firms will connive with the Board and overlook 'misdeeds' of the CEO and post a clean report, is "completely untenable". Seshasayee and co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan, however, ruled out any legal action against Murthy.
Â
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
-
Joining The Dots | Dark Skies, Steady Diya: Why Hope Holds This Diwali
With war, a weak rupee and foreign outflows weighing on sentiment, policymakers at the NDTV World Summit and market veterans at NDTV Profit Ignite: Diwali Edition offered the same advice: stay invested and filter out the noise.
-
The Curious Case of Equitas Small Finance Bank And A CEO Who Quit For Stock
PN Vasudevan believes persistent investor concerns over a perceived conflict of interest had become a governance overhang on Equitas Small Finance Bank's stock, even as the lender improved profitability and asset quality.
-
Talking Points This Week: AI Cash Burn, A Tiger Comeback And An India That Still Finds Its Own Path
India is not immune to higher oil or tighter global liquidity, yet its earnings base is broader, its domestic policy levers are still available.
-
Foreign Investors Own Half Of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. An LTCG Cut Could Matter Most Here
Foreign portfolio investors have US$115 billion parked in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank. If the government cuts long-term capital gains tax, Jefferies says returning foreign money could land here first.
