Timeline: Governance lapses at Infosys, CEO Vishal Sikka’s exit in 2017

Whistleblower complaints, lapses in corporate governance and internal conflicts are not new to Asia’s second largest IT-services firm Infosys Ltd. An anonymous employees’ group has accused the management, mainly chief executive Salil Parekh and chief financial officer Nilanjan Roy, of unethical accounting practices. Similar issues had unfolded nearly three years ago when the company’s promoters had blamed the board including former CEO Vishal Sikka for misgovernance.

Tension between the then management and founding promoters had mounted after whistleblower complaints made various allegations ranging from the $200 million acquisition of Israeli automation company Panaya in February 2015 being overvalued to top executives having personal interests in the acquisition. Large severance packages of former chief financial officer (CFO) Rajiv Bansal and former chief legal officer David Kennedy and a 55% hike in Sikka’s compensation had heightened the conflict.