Mahindra Satyam will contest the
Enforcement Directorate's attachment order seeking Rs 820 crore from it. "I am a little disturbed that the government of India, which helped save this company, does not believe in a dialogue,"
C. P. Gurnani, CEO of Mahindra Satyam and Managing Director of Tech Mahindra told
Business Today. "We will obviously contest it in terms of whether this is something the company is responsible for."
Gunani is clearly upset. "I keep asking: 'Whom are you trying to punish? Our employees, who fought this battle and recovered?' I still maintain, the company has been made a victim. There was a rash driver who hit the company. We came in with the ambulance and why are you penalising the ambulance guys?" he adds.
He clarifies that the order will not impact the running of the company. "If you go through our accounting treatment, we have classified Rs 1,230 crore as amounts pending investigation and today even if you take away Rs 820 crore due to alleged crimes of the erstwhile promoter, it is not going to impact the running of the company. We have cash and cash equivalents worth over Rs 3,000 crore."
He sees the ED order as "an attack on the business". "It is a charge against Ramalinga Raju, the erstwhile promoter of Satyam," he says. "There could have been a dialogue. As I have stated earlier too, dealing with the regulators was one of the challenges and it just happens that in India there is no discussion and all you get is an attachment order. It is not as if the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US did not feel aggrieved over what happened at Satyam. With regulators, all over the world, there is discussion and at times we have also agreed to pay a fine."
However, he is still hopeful. "Ultimately, I would say, this too shall pass.... it is only that this is unprecedented."
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