Even as Infosys management denies allegations on corporate governance deficit, its former chief financial officer TV Mohandas Pai on Tuesday accused it of not disclosing necessary details on Rajiv Bansal’s exit with a high severance package of `17.3 crore.
“In October 2015, they had a press release saying the CFO is going, and both the CFO and CEO said nice things about each other. They did not disclose (the severance package)... They didn’t disclose after the December quarter (results),” Pai told the news agency on the sidelines of an event here.
The tussle between some of the Infosys founders and the management comes at a time when the company is flush with a cash pile of more than $5 billion and there have been demands of its distribution among shareholders by way of share buyback.
Pai was answering a specific question on the management’s claim of abiding by founders’ maxim of ‘disclose when in doubt’ and assertions on abiding by corporate governance standards made during a marathon press conference last evening.
Pai claimed that the company disclosed the severance agreement it had reached with the then CFO Bansal in the annual report only after the media got a whiff of the matter.
“Nobody pays you 24 months of severance in India,” he said and also questioned the current management’s justification on a lack of chemistry between chief executive Vishal Sikka and Bansal.
Stressing on the importance of the post, Pai said the CFO is responsible for financial integrity and added that the audit committee of the board should have stepped in with posers on the high payout to “get rid” of a person who is “inconvenient” to the management.
Asked if it was the $200 million buy of Israeli company Panaya that led to the exit, he declined to comment.