Infosys says no plans to make investigator’s report on ‘misgovernance’ public

Infosys Ltd has declined a request from its most high-profile founder NR Narayana Murthy to make public the report of an external consultant appointed to look into the charges of misgovernance.

Murthy, who was chairman of the company till 2014 and still holds 3.44% stake (along with family members), had asked the full report by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher to be made public.

Infosys had claimed in June that the external expert had cleared the management of charges of wrongdoing, as was alleged by an anonymous complaint, after a detailed and extensive investigation.

“The company does not plan to make the report public,” Infosys said in a statement.

The law firm had been mandated to probe the whistleblower allegations of CEO Vishal Sikka being paid excessive compensation in relation to the Panaya acquisition.

“The summary finding statement of this investigation is also available on our website,” Infosys said.

The company explained that the investigation involved interviews of over 50 witnesses in India, the US and elsewhere, the review of company policies, Board minutes, public filings and internal documents.

It also entailed investigation of “many thousands of internal emails and attachments” and used forensic accounting experts to analyse technical and financial information, the company said.

Infosys had ordered the probe following two anonymous letters in February that alleged wrongdoing in some of Infosys’ acquisitions, improper contracting and CEO compensation as well as expenditures.

In a statement issued on June 23, Infosys had said the probe had found no evidence of any kickbacks, inappropriate contracting or unreasonable expenses incurred on Sikka.

Over the past few months, Infosys has drawn flak from some of the co-founders, including Murthy, on a number of occasions alleging corporate governance lapses at the firm.

They had also raised questions about the severance package offered to two former Infosys executives.

Infosys had also attached a copy of the letter that Gibson Dunn had written to its audit committee on findings of the investigation.

In February 2015, Infosys had announced buying Israeli automation firm, Panaya for $200 million (Rs 1,250 crore) in cash.

[“source-hindustantimes”]