Infosys adds D N Prahlad to board committee

Infosys has added independent director D N Prahlad to a committee of the board to engage with stakeholders, following a recent spat between the management and founders led by N R Narayana Murthy.

Prahlad, a former employee of Infosys, was appointed as independent director of the software exporter last year with recommendations by Murthy after he raised concerns that the board had failed in its fiduciary duty to question decisions made by the management.

Prahlad was added as the fourth member of the stakeholders’ relationship committee, which consists of professor Jeffrey S Lehman, professor John W Etchemendy, both independent directors, and Ravi Venkatesan, who was elevated to the post of co-chairman, according to the company’s annual report for 2016-17.

He was earlier appointed to the nomination and remuneration committee after Murthy raised red flags over the severance pay given to former chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal.

Murthy also pointed out that Infosys was failing on governance norms, blaming chairman R Seshasayee of not asserting his right, and had sought the appointment of a co-chairman. Infosys, which went back on its contract to pay the full ~17.38 crore to Bansal, is facing an arbitration suit by the former executive who has engaged IndusLaw to fight for his dues. Former Supreme Court judge R V Raveendran has been appointed sole arbitrator in the case, while Nishith Desai Associates is Infosys's counsel in the matter.