R Sridharan elected ICSI prez

Council decides against Harish Vaid on propriety issues

Chennai-based company secretary R Sridharan was elected president of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). The move follows a section of council members, including government nominees, opposing the candidature of incumbent vice-president Harish K Vaid for the post.

“The government nominees opposed the candidature citing Vaid’s involvement in a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) matter. Though the attorney general had given a legal opinion clearing his name, some members felt the issue was more about propriety and ethicality and less legal,” a person said.  

Pune-based Vikas Khare was elected the vice-president. The outgoing president S N Ananthasubramanian confirmed the election results.

The institute had a tradition of electing incumbent vice-presidents. However, the propriety issue was first raised by one of the government nominees when elections were first held in January.  The institute had then announced the incumbents would continue in the post till the matter was resolved. Vaid, senior president (corporate affairs) and company secretary, Jaiprakash Associates, had been judged guilty by Sebi in an insider trading case in 2012. In a recent letter, a member pointed out the institute had taken high moral ground on the issue of corporate governance and electing Vaid would compromise its integrity.

“…So it all the more devolves upon the council to take a responsible decision on this sensitive issue, as electing a person as a president who has been indicted of insider trading and whose appeal is pending in the supreme court would not only compromise on the integrity and dignity of this high public office but also send a completely wrong signal to its student community.”

 The member had also pointed out that it would place ICSI in poor light before all regulators including Sebi. "Propreity demands thatHarish Vaid does not take over as president of ICSI. In my view he should first get his name cleared from the apex court and only then he is eligible for contesting election," the member said in the letter.