Infosys board gives clean chit to controversial Panaya deal

The Infosys board, under chairman Nandan Nilekani, today gave a clean chit to the company's USD 200 million Panaya acquisition, a move seen as a vindication of previous management's stance on the issue.
The Infosys board agreed that there was no merit in the allegations of wrongdoing and also refused to put out additional details of the investigation, a long-standing demand of co-founder N R Narayana Murthy.
Doing so would "inhibit the company's ability to conduct effective investigations into any matter in the future", Infosys said in a statement today refering to contentious deal that had been a flashpoint between Murthy and the previous management.

"After careful consideration led by our chairman, the board reaffirms the previous findings of external investigations that there is no merit to the allegations of wrongdoing," Infosys said.
It may be recalled that former CEO Vishal Sikka had drawn flak from Murthy over the 2015 acquisition of the Israeli automation firm, and not releasing the full probe report relating to the deal.
In February, Infosys had said it will investigate claims levelled by the whistleblower in an anonymous mail to market regulator Sebi, alleging wrongdoings in the Panaya takeover.

While strongly refuting the charges, the Bengaluru- based firm had also hired Gibson Dunn and Crutcher to conduct an investigation into the charges.

The company had subsequently said that the probe did not find evidence to support allegations regarding wrongdoing by the company or its directors and employees.
Murthy has been demanding that the full investigation report on whistleblower allegations be made public.
But Infosys today said that after a "careful re- consideration" it has concluded that putting out more details of the probe would "inhibit the company's ability to conduct effective investigations into any matter in the future".
Emphasising that confidentiality was key to ensuring the cooperation of whistleblowers and other participants in any investigative process, the company cautioned that any precedent of releasing the full investigation report could impede such cooperation in future.

Further, the company asserted that its review had confirmed that "appropriate" and "timely disclosures" were indeed made on severance payments to the former CFO - another issue that had caused a rift between founders and past management.
Giving a detailed outline of review undertaken on Panaya issue, Nilekani said: "In light of my review of these matters, I am fully persuaded, as is the entire Board, that the conclusions of the independent investigations are correct.