No, I have not withdrawn my concerns, Narayana Murthy says

BENGALURU/MUMBAI: Not long after a news wire service reported on Monday morning that N R Narayana Murthy was "calling off his fight with the board of Infosys", he issued a statement saying, "No, I have not withdrawn my concerns."

In what has been interpreted by many as at least a "walking back", if not a U-turn, the Infosys co-founder said, "They (his concerns) have to be addressed properly by the board and full transparency should be displayed and people responsible for it should become accountable... I hope they take corrective action soon and improve governance for a better future for the company."

In a clear indication that he expected the board to take him seriously and without delay, Murthy said, "Good leadership demands that they listen to all concerned shareholders, re-evaluate their decision and take corrective action."

This appeared to be somewhat less conciliatory than what he had earlier told

Bloomberg

when asked if the row was over: "Yes, I think so.The reality is that these things happen. It is a good idea not to unnecessarily muddy it up further... Let me stop. I have made a point, paying such large sums of money is confusing. Now they have to sort it out...I felt that I don't want it to snowball. I don't have the time. Neither should the board and the management be spending time on it." He added he was confident the company would deal with his concerns about corporate governance.

However, a person who knows both sides sought to play down the perception that Murthy had reverted to his earlier 'hardline' position. "The difference between the two statements of Murthy was more in the nuancing than anything else. In both, he made it clear that the issues raised by him need to be sorted out - just that he's now leaving it to the board to do it and he doesn't want to be confrontational," this person said.

He drew attention to Murthy's subsequent statement referring to the board as "good intentioned people of high integrity...but obviously being human even good people sometimes make mistakes, this is one such case".

In an interview to TOI last Thursday , Murthy had said he was "distressed at what is happening in Infosys" and voiced concerns over a fall in the quality of board governance and the huge severance packages offered to a chief financial officer and another senior executive. And, almost a year ago, he and a number of Infosys co-founders had abstained from voting on a resolution to sharply increase CEO Vishal Sikka's compensation package (although much of it was tied up to very steep performance targets).