Vishal shake-up at Infosys

Bengaluru/New Delhi: Vishal Sikka, the first non-founder CEO of Infosys, on Friday resigned from the company following months of acrimony with high-profile founders, led by NR Narayana Murthy, citing ‘malicious’ and ‘personal attacks’ on him.

Following the latest development, IT major's scrip plummeted 13.39 per cent to Rs 884.40, its 52-week low level on BSE. While Pravin Rao, currently COO, has been named interim CEO, Sikka will become executive vice- chairman and will be paid $1 in annual salary.

Sikka will help the company search a new MD and CEO and the deadline has been set for March 31, 2018. While Sikka did not name Murthy for his exit, the board of the $10 billion firm blamed him for ‘continuous assault’ through ‘factually inaccurate’ and ‘already-disproved rumours’ for the sudden resignation ‘despite strong Board support.’

Murthy, who left all board positions at Infosys before Sikka began his five-year term in August 2014, launched a counter-offensive saying that all he wanted as a shareholder was good governance and had neither questioned Sikka’s work nor sought money or position for his children.

Sikka, 50, a former German IT major SAP executive under whose three-year tenure Infosys’ revenue rose by about 25 per cent, said he faced "false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks". Infosys board in an unusually strong statement defended Sikka's performance and ruled out a formal role for Murthy in the company's governance.

In February last year, Sikka’s term was mid-way extended by two more years till 2021 largely because of his performance. In marathon investor calls and media briefing, Infosys Chairman R Seshasayee said anonymous complaints of alleged misdeeds in acquisition of Israeli firm Panaya are being repeated over and over again despite two independent probes not finding any wrongdoings.

He countered Murthy’s assertion that the ‘whistle-blower complaint’ was probed by a set of lawyers hired by a set of accused and such a report gave clean chit to the accused. Seshasayee said that to give “shareholders task of taking up anonymous complaints and engaging a panel for probe is the best way to destroy an organisation.”

He said the theory that globally renowned independent auditors and forensic experts hired for the probe can be compromised is totally untenable. He attributed non-release of the full probe report to confidentiality clauses. Murthy first released a short statement expressing ‘extreme anguish’ over the ‘allegations, tone and tenor’ of the Infosys Board statement.