Infosys appoints union minister's wife as director

Global software major Infosys Ltd on Thursday appointed noted investment manager Punita Kumar Sinha, wife of union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, as an independent director on its board.

In a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the IT bellwether said Punita Kumar Sinha was appointed as an independent director with effect from Thursday.

Her appointment comes in place of Carol M Browner, who resigned as a board member on November 2015.

In a brief profile in the filing, the company, however, did not mention that Punita's husband is a minister in the the central government.

Sinha is the son of former finance and external affairs minister Yeshwant Sinha in the previous NDA government (1999-2004) and Punita Sinha is former senior managing director at The Blackstone Group.

The news about the appointment came on one line on page four of the seven-page press release on its third quarterly results under "Board Changes" and had no detail about her.

Punita Sinha is also a founder and managing partner of Pacific Paradigm Advisors, an independent investment advisory and management firm, focussed on Asia.

Her appointment and its announcement without details came under flak in the social media, as she is a wife of a union minister with an important portfolio (finance).

Congress MP Rajeev Shankarrao Satav tweeted: "Infosys Appoints Punita Sinha, Wife of Jayant Sinha, as Director. Clear case of #Nepotism?"

"Her Husband has a Day Job 'Union Minister of State, Finance' and She is privy to Govt's Financial Policies," said user Pankaj Tiwari.

Besides Punita, outgoing independent director Jeffrey S Lehman was re-appointed for a two-year term from April 14, 2016.