BENGALURU: Did
Flipkart co-founder
Binny Bansal actually say he was sorry? For distracting the company with his alleged “personal misconduct.”
There are two versions of a mail from Binny, one which was sent to the media, and another that Flipkart employees received. They are identical, except for a four-word apology. The one to the media contained the words “I am deeply sorry” as part of the line: “I am concerned that this may become a distraction for the company and the team, for which I am deeply sorry.”
The one sent to employees by Binny from his official email ID did not. The line stops at “...the team.”
Some are wondering if Walmart-Flipkart put words in Binny’s mouth. Or did Binny choose to delete those words when he sent the mail to employees?
Binny has
maintained that the allegations were “uncorroborated after a thorough investigation completed by an independent law firm.” He has said that the matter had left him “stunned”. Walmart-Flipkart too said its internal investigation did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Binny. But the investigation, they said, did reveal “other lapses in judgement, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation.”
A Bloomberg report said
Binny had a consensual affair with a former Flipkart employee . Reports have also indicated that Binny did not disclose the matter to
Walmart
because he thought it was a matter that was consensual and more a
personal affair
. As reported earlier by TOI, Walmart was irked by Binny’s non-disclosure of the episode at the time it was acquiring Flipkart. Many MNCs take such non-disclosures very seriously.
It looks like Binny did not think he was guilty enough to apologise to everyone. While Walmart-Flipkart thought he was.
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