‘Ignore Those Madrasis’: Infosys Employees Told to Snub Directors

Infy CEO Salil Parekh allegedly said, “Those two Madrasis and Diva make silly points, you just nod and ignore them.”

Infosys Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Salil Parekh, who turned the fortunes of the global software vendor, is learnt to have mocked two independent directors of the company as “Madrasis”.

(Photo: IANS)

Infosys Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Salil Parekh, who turned the fortunes of the global software vendor, is learnt to have mocked two independent directors of the company as “Madrasis”, said unnamed ethical employees in a letter to the board.

“The CEO told us, ‘no one in the board understands these things, they are happy as long as the share price is up. Those two Madrasis (Sundaram and Prahlad) and Diva (Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw) make silly points, you just nod and ignore them’,” recalled the whistleblowers in a joint letter to the company's board on 20 September.

Biocon chairperson Shaw is a lead independent director in the 10-member Infosys board while D Sundaram and DN Prahlad are independent directors.

Considered derogatory slang, ‘Madrasi’ is used in northern India for describing south Indians.

‘Ethical Employees’ Allege Unethical Practices

Some unspecified techies of Infosys, calling themselves “ethical employees”, accused Parekh and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nilanjan Roy of unethical practices.

“Parekh and Roy have been resorting to unethical practices for many quarters, as is evident from their e-mails and voice recordings of their conversations,” said the complainants in the letter to the board, a copy of which has been accessed by IANS.

The letter also pointed out that several billion dollar deals in the last few quarters were of nil margin.

The employees also alleged that in the quarter under review of fiscal 2019-20, the management put immense pressure on them not to recognise reversals of $50 million (Rs 353 crore) of upfront payment in FDR contract, as it would slash profits for the quarter and negatively affect the company's stock price.

The letter said not recognising reversals of upfront payment in FDR contract was against fair accounting practice.

“Critical information is hidden from the auditors and board. In large contracts like Verizon, Intel and JVs (Joint Ventures) in Japan, ABN Amro acquisition, revenue recognition matters are forced, which is not as per the accounting standards,” said the letter.

The employees said they have been instructed not to share large deal information with auditors.

The plaintiffs are confident of sharing the alleged emails and voice recordings with investigators when demanded.

(With inputs from IANS)