Dhanlaxmi Bank saga puts spotlight on independent directors on bank boards

Is Kalyanasundaram a whistleblower? Dhanlaxmi insiders are not too perturbed by his exit and say it is business as usual at the bank. That said, Dhanlaxmi has been in a prolonged patch of bad news

The new bellwether of sensation, WhatsApp, began to buzz late on Sunday evening. Sridhar Kalyanasundaram, an independent director at the Thrissur, Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank, had ostensibly turned whistleblower.

He had resigned, expressing differences with other board members, including Shivan J K, the bank’s managing director and chief executive officer.

Later that evening, the bank notified the bourses, saying Kalyanasundaram had resigned with effect from September 16.

Let’s pause here and go back a few months.

On May 29, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, took the wraps off a topic that hardly ever gets discussed in public. It was