Govt moves application in CLB to recall nominated directors

The government has moved an application in the Company Law Board (CLB) to recall its nominated directors from the board of Mahindra Satyam, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Saturday.

“These (board members) are very distinguished people who very graciously agreed to be on board at a very difficult time. They can now decide when their job is done and then come out. Whatever we are required to do before the CLB, we will do because a formal request or an application would have to be made and that has been done,” he said at a CII function.

Asked if all the six members or some would be recalled, he said, “that will be the decision of the board, not our decision. Because we only had to pinpoint who will be useful at the time of the crisis. The road ahead is something that will be collectively decided by the board.”

Kiran Karnik, chairman of the board of Mahindra Satyam, said, “The job is done but the investigation is on and if the government feels that the investigation would be aided by having a presence on the board, then may be one or two directors can continue.”

“But most of us can now withdraw. The job that we were supposed to do as far as we are concerned is almost over,” he added.

Asked about the members who could exit, Karnik said, “We have already approached the government and I expect something in the next few days. I don’t want to discuss individual names, I can just say that I hopefully looking to be out very soon.”

The CLB is expected to pass an order on Monday. The board of the company, formerly known as Satyam Computer Services, was dissolved by the government in January after its then chairman and founder Ramalinga Raju revealed India’s biggest corporate accounting fraud.

The government then set up a new six-member board to stabilise the struggling software firm, which was later put up for sale. Tech Mahindra, majority owned by Mahindra and Mahindra, won an auction in April for a controlling stake in Mahindra Satyam. The new parent, last month, revamped the top management of Mahindra Satyam.