Infosys co-founders keep away from ‘stormy’ AGM

Bengaluru, June 24 (IANS) For the first time in many years, Infosys’ co-founders, including N.R. Narayana Murthy kept away from its Annual General Meeting as the 36th AGM for 2016-17 was held here on Saturday.

"None of the founders or promoters was seen at the AGM, even a hour after it began at 3 p.m. We have no idea why they did not turn up," a company spokesman told IANS.

About 1,000 retail investors in individual capacity or with families, however, packed the air-conditioned auditorium of Christ College, about 20 km from the IT major’s campus in the Electronics City, to attend the "stormy" meeting and participate in the proceedings, including voting on the four ordinary resolutions by show of hands.

Besides Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, S. Gopalakrishnan, S.D. Shibulal, K. Dinesh, N.S. Raghavan and Ashok Arora are the co-founders of India’s second-largest software export firm.

Though Murthy attended the last AGM with son Rohan Murthy, his conspicuous absence along with other co-founders surprised many investors.

"It is surprising not to see Murthy at the AGM as he used to sit in the front row after demitting office for the second time in 2014. Former directors T.V Mohandas Pai and V. Balakrishnan, who were regular at the AGMs over the years, are also not to be seen," said old-time investor Ramana Reddy from the city.

Board Chairman S. Seshasayee, Co-Chairman Ravi Venkatesan, CEO and Managing Director Vishal Sikka, Chief Operating Officer U.B. Pravin Rao and Independent Directors Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, D.N. Prahlad, Roopa Kudva, Punit Kumar-Sinha and John W. Etchemendy presided over the meeting from the dais.

"Independent Director, Jefferey S. Lehman from the US could not make it to the meeting due to unforseen circumstances," said the spokesman.

Aftr Seshasyaee delivered his speech as Chairman and briefed the shareholders about the proceedings of the meeting, Chief Financial Officer M.D Ranganath presented the company’s financial performance for the fiscal under review.