It’s a fact that Infosys did not reveal the political connection of Punita Sinha, the new independent director on its board.
Along with the third quarter financial result, the Bangalore-based software major announced the appointment of Punita Kumar Sinha, an established investment banker.
It is not the fault of Infosys that the investment manager Punita Sinha is also the wife of union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha. Industry analysts feel that Punita Sinha will have access to developments in the Union finance ministry and Infosys will benefit from her appointment.
The main mistake committed by Infosys is the fact that it did not disclose the connection between Punita Sinha and Jayant Sinha when it informed the BSE.
Without mentioning the political connection of Punita Sinha, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, said: “Alongside grassroots innovation, we continue to see growing adoption of our Aikido services, bringing the power of intelligent systems, automation and software to amplify the skills and imaginations of our people.”
In a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the software major said Punita Sinha was appointed as an independent director with effect from Thursday. She will be appointed as the independent director in place of Carol Browner, who resigned as a board member on November 2015.
In a brief profile in the filing and the global press release, Infosys, did not mention that Punita Sinha’s husband is a minister in the central government.
Jayant 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, IANS reported.
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, focused 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 Government’s Financial Policies,” said user Pankaj Tiwari.
Infosys is known for clean corporate governance. During the appointment of NR Narayana Murthy’s son to assist his father during the crisis time of Infosys, the software major faced similar criticism from the global IT and investor community.
editor@infotechlead.com
