Nilekani back at Infosys: Board says it never wanted to hurt Murthy

Mumbai: After Nandan Nilekani’s return to Infosys in his second innings amid alleged acrimony between board members and founders, Infosys said the board had no intentions of causing “anguish” to Narayana Murthy.

Addressing the second con-call of the day, Nilekani, the non-executive chairman, who assumed office on Thursday, said on behalf of the board, that it was very unfortunate that various differences of opinion have arisen between Mr. Murthy and the Board in the recent past.

The founder and former CEO of the technology giant said "My goal is to bring consensus and take this company forward”. He said it is his duty to bring consensus and take Infosys forward.

Nilekani further said that he will look into the Panaya investigation and will then decide on "appropriate course of action" along with the board. He also said that he will get full briefings of investigations done previously at the company.

These statements assume significance in the light of the feud between the board and the founders as questions regarding the Panaya deal, Sikka’s salary hike and the Rs 23 crore severance package given to a departing chief financial officer. 

Nilekani returned to Infosys after Vishal Sikka resigned last Friday citing constant “malicious” attacks by founder Narayana Murthy. The high-level corporate drama further aggravated when the company board blamed Murthy for his relentless assaults against Sikka.

Meanwhile, founders, ex-Infosycians rallied for Nilekani’s return to steer Infosys out of this tumultuous situation.

Nilekani stressed on the immediate goals of finding a CEO for the IT giant and coming up with a long-term governance structure.

The Infosys Board also approved the appointment of the executive recruitment firm Egon Zehnder to work with its Nominations and Remunerations Committee to find the right candidate to be the next CEO and MD.

Nilekani also said that there is no fixed time for which he is back on the board.