Govt puts Parekh, Karnik & Ex-SEBI member on Satyam Board

NEW DELHI: Moving quickly to stabilise the fraud-devastated Satyam Computer, the government on Sunday nominated noted banker Deepak Parekh, IT expert Kiran Karnik and former SEBI member C Achutan to the IT company's Board. (Watch)

Deepak Parekh, chairman of HDFC Bank, said: ���Govt and various industries from Bombay have requested me to be on Satyam Board because it's a national meat. There are hundred steps that need to be taken but the first priority is to increase the number of the board from 3 members, restate the balance sheets and create a reassurance among clients, investors and employees of Satyam.���

The three-member board would meet within 24 hours to decide on the remaining up to seven members along with the Chairman, Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta told reporters in a hurriedly called press conference two days after disbanding the truncated Satyam Board.

On the demand by institutional investors like LIC and Lazard for a representation on the Board, Gupta said, "All options are open in the interest of the company."

The board would have eminent personalities from finance, law, IT and administration, Gupta said. Gupta said that more members to the board would be nominated only if needed.





Asked about the priorities before the board, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh told the media over telephone, "The first priority would be to meet as soon as possible... we will have to clear the mess."

"I'm yet to talk to the other members," Parekh said. Karnik, former President of NASSCOM, also said that the three newly named board members would meet as soon as possible and that the first priority is the arrangement of an operational management.

"We are trying to ensure that India continues to be safe, secure and reliable destination for IT services," he said.