Infosys Non-Executive Chairman Nandan Nilekani has vowed to deal with concerns raised by shareholders with regard to a whistleblower’s letter complaining about governance issues.
“The shareholders keep on raising such issues from time to time and the company will deal with them. We are focused on our business and customers,” he reportedly said on the sidelines of Infosys’ 37th annual general meeting.
“Our customers are undergoing enormous transformation and disruption, and we hope to build on this and we are very confident of our bright future ahead,” he added.
The whistleblower had written a letter to SEBI in May this year alleging that Nilekani had failed to uphold the highest standards of corporate governance practised earlier by it, reported PTI.
The letter also reportedly had said Nilekani was a “huge disappointment” and that he had “failed to uphold the highest traditions of corporate governance” that were practised by the company earlier.
It also had said Infosys had “quietly revealed”, in its annual report, that it had signed agreements for mutual release of claims with three directors, including former Chairman R Seshasayee and Jeff Lehman (ex-head of nominations and remuneration committee), the report said.
The only reason why the company signed such a claim release agreement with those directors is because they found certain wrongdoings in investigation reports, it said.
Last year too, Sebi had received whistleblower complaints questioning the role of some company executives in the acquisition of Panaya by Infosys, reported PTI.
Infosys faced months of protracted standoff between its founders led by N R Narayana Murthy and the previous management over issues of corporate governance and compensation to former executives, the report highlighted.
Nilekani also fielded some questions from shareholders during the AGM.
On the absence of company founders including N R Narayana Murthy at its 37th AGM, Nilekani said, “I think everyone attends (the AGM) if they can, and if they are travelling, then they can’t. I think we should think of every year as 25 years of celebration (hence such questions do not arise).”