Sikka's salary to whistleblower: 5 Key takeaways from Infosys defending the board

Brushed off rumours of rift

Vishal Sikka brushed off rumours about an ongoing fight between the founders and the board. He said that there is no rift with Narayana Murthy and the duo share a 'heartfelt' and 'warm' relationship. He further added that he meets Murthy 5-6 times a year, and 'deeply values' the Infosys veteran's suggestions and criticism. 

No more ' Rajiv Bansals'

Another bone of contention has been the huge 17.4 crore severance package given to former CFO Rajiv Bansal. Murthy felt that it should have been discussed. He had also said that such payments raise doubts whether the company is using the payment as hush money to hide something. Defending this, R Seshasayee said that the company follows good governance rules and it is untrue that there is no engagement between the board and founders. He called it a judgement error due to a subjective element. He further said that a new severance package policy is in place to ensure there are no more similar errors in the future. He also said that the 'hush money' aspect was disturbing. 

Also Read: Why fight over misplaced concern for 'values', just demand your rights

Judge women by their qualification

Talking about appointment of Punita Sinha, who is the wife of Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance, R Seshasayee said that she is qualified for the position. He said that a woman must not be judged based on the profession of her spouse. 

Whistleblower's personal attack

Vishal Sikka said that the anonymous letter from a whistleblower is a slanderous, personal attack. He further added that the founders are just bystanders and someone is trying to sabotage his reputation. Sikka later said he is a 'Kshatriya warrior and here to stay' in an interview with Moneycontrol. While that was a great way to put forth he will fight and won't step down. but Twitterati weren't too kind to that comment. 

Sikka's salary
Seshasayee clarified that from the time Sikka was appointed as the chief, his fixed component has gone down to $4 million from $5.08 million. He added that the compensation is tied to high levels of target achievements. It should also be noted that Infosys shares went up by 54 percent in August 2016. And, even if the prices are down, they are higher by 22 percent compared to Murthy's reign. 

• Vishal Sikka
• Infosys
• Infosys CEO