No conflict of interest among founders of company: Infosys

The Infosys on Monday said there is no conflict of interest amongst the founders of the company and the management instead there is a convergence of interests.

"We have a situation where we have the stakeholders, the founders and others along-with them who have nothing other than the best interest of the organization in their mind. Therefore there is no conflict of interest there is convergence of interest," said R. Seshasayee, Chairman, Infosys.

"The objective of this press conference is primarily to look at all the principal issues that have been raised regarding the governance practices. It is our duty as trustees of this organization to uphold and enhance its values," he said

Commenting on the appointment of Dr. Punita Sinha on the Board of the company, Seshasayee said that they are proud to have such an accomplished person on their board.

"We are very proud to have someone like Dr. Punita on our board, an extremely accomplished person with high academic achievements and a very strong professional career. You will agree that a woman should not be judged by the profession of her spouse," he added.

Responding to the appointment of D.N. Prahlad as an Independent Director, he said that the former is qualified as has also gone through the due procedure of appointment to the board.

"Let me assure you that Mr. Prahlad qualifies as an Independent Director by all criteria laid down in the legislation. His name was proposed by the founders but we went through the due process for inducting people on the board," said the chairman.

Another issue that was addressed in the conference was the compensation of Vishal Sikka, the CEO of Infosys.

Seshasayee explained that the hike was linked to the longevity of Vishal in the company.

"The cash component of the compensation came down from Rs. 5.08 to Rs. four million. The variable element went up which was linked to Vishal's longevity, which is extremely important for the stability of the company. It is normal practice therefore to have longevity linked incentives," he added.

"We get inputs from the founders of the company, it is a good thing to get proposals, but it is my responsibility to see what is good for the company," said Seshasayee on statements made by the founding members against him.