Infosys board blaming Murthy to hide own failures: Bala

Bengaluru: Former Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan on Tuesday said the board of the IT major is blaming co-founder N R Narayana Murthy over Vishal Sikka's exit as CEO "just to hide its own failures".

He also contested the claim that the halo around Murthy is disappearing.

"...It is a wishful thinking if some people think it (halo) is disappearing," he told PTI in an interview here.

Murthy has done a great service to stakeholders by bringing corporate governance issues to the fore and requesting accountability from the board in the long-term interest of the company, he said.

He was reacting to comments made by former Infosys board director Omkar Goswami, who in a business daily wrote that the corporate governance halo conferred upon Murthy was shrinking.

Balakrishnan said so-called "pundits" and former board directors of Infosys criticising Murthy in public "is both unusual and strange".

He said they had come to a conclusion based on wrong facts and it would have been better if they had spoken to Murthy and understood the issues before commenting.

"It is very clear that the board had taken the step to blame Murthy just to hide its own failures," he said.

Balakrishnan said "Murthy has been raising core governance issues which need to be addressed by the board and the co-founder never criticised Vishal Sikka on his strategy or performance. It is the co-chairman who gave an interview where he discussed about the performance of Vishal," he said.

By blaming Murthy for Sikka's exit, the board has done "a great disservice to the man who built this iconic company that put India on the global IT map," Balakrishnan said.?

Balakrishnan added that the founders and the institutions have a greater stake in the company and are directly impacted by the board?s actions.?

"The general consensus today is that the board has let down its investors," he said.

Balakrishnan suggested that both large shareholders and founders should get together and reason with the board for its restructuring.

He said Murthy has clearly stated that he is not looking for any personal gratification either for him or his family and only had the interests of Infosys in mind.?

"Unless, the governance issues are fixed with appropriate balance in the board, getting a CEO to run the company looks extremely difficult," he said.