A group of former Infosys employees who call themselves Governance First, is learnt to have written to the company’s board, demanding the Panaya report to be made public.
These issues, which were first raised by co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, seem to have found favour amongst these employees. The letter expresses disappointment and anguish at the manner in which Infosys board has responded to Murthy’s questions.
“We have worked closely with Murthy for many years, representing a 1,000 years of collective experience at Infosys — and believe the only thing he is and has always been concerned with is the good of Infosys,” the letter noted. “We understand that the current board made various attempts to reach out to founders and specifically Murthy about some M&A deals, as well as the severance and other issues. We also understand that there were steps taken including engaging reputed global law firms to investigate any irregularities.”
The letter went on to add that while the law firm which completed their due diligence and gave a clean chit to all the concerned employees, no details were shared with retail investors and ex-Infoscions regarding the findings as well as how it came to that conclusion. “However, we are used to data and disclosures speaking for themselves – that is the culture Murthy had built and made us all believe is essential,” the letter said.
On August 18, Vishal Sikka, the first non-founder CEO of Infosys, resigned from the company following months of acrimony with the founders, led by Murthy, citing “malicious” and “personal attacks” on him. On the same day, the board blamed the founder for “continuous assault” through “factually inaccurate” and “already-disproved rumours” for the resignation of the CEO.
For the board to accuse Murthy as the primary or even the only reason for the distraction and noise is highly unfair and unacceptable. The board needs to explain in depth, backed by facts and data, the issues raised by Murthy, and come clean to all stakeholders, the letter said.
Murthy has maintained that his only concerns are the lapses in corporate governance standards, something which was the hallmark of the company.