SEBI to order forensic probe of Infosys whistleblowers' allegations

Market regulator SEBI is set to order a forensic audit in the Infosys whistleblowers' allegations, said a media report. The development comes days after audit committee of the company's board gave clean chit to its executives in the matter.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is in the process of appointing a forensic auditor for thorough examination of the allegations of unethical practices, Mint quoted sources as saying. "The finding that it has come to is immaterial on SEBI's probe. The regulator's investigation so far has in fact warranted a deeper analysis," one of the sources told the daily.

The move came after Infosys' audit committee found no evidence of financial wrongdoings or misconduct on part of company's top executives. The investigation was undertaken following whistleblower complaints on October 21, 2019, which blamed Infosys CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy of indulging in unethical practices.

Also Read: Infosys whistleblowers may not have been insiders

Infosys, on January 10, said independent investigations found no evidence of any wrongdoing in any of the charges made in anonymous letters. A combative Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder and Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys, said the company has come out stronger from the episode. He had said that Parekh and Roy are thorough professionals, and that there was no way of ascertaining whether allegations were made by genuine employees or outsiders. In other words, the whistleblowers may not have been insiders.

Also Read: Infosys whistleblower allegations: Audit panel finds no evidence of executive misconduct

The audit committee was assisted by independent legal counsel Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and PricewaterhouseCoopers in the probe. An investigation team led Pallavi Shroff, Managing Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, conducted 128 interviews with 77 persons, including relevant company personnel related to the allegations, and reviewed over 2.1 lakh documents from electronic sources and imaged devices, Infosys had said in an earlier regulatory filing.

Earlier on 8 November, SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi had signalled that its probe was independent of statements made by Infosys.

By Chitranjan Kumar