Om Prakash Bhatt, former chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI), resigned as chairman of IT services firm on September 8 following an internal audit into the company’s board evaluation process.
Coforge said on Wednesday that the audit found concerns, including that material information about Bhatt’s own performance had not been fully disclosed to the board.
Bhatt was appointed chairman of ‘s board in 2024, with his term originally due to end in April 2027. The company has appointed Vivek Sharma, a non-executive independent director, as interim chair until January 31, 2027.
Why did Bhatt resign?
According to Reuters, an audit into Coforge’s board evaluation process and the resulting report identified concerns over how the report had been handled and presented to the board.
The process and report were conducted under Bhatt’s guidance. The board raised its concerns with him and was evaluating his response when he submitted his resignation on September 8.
Coforge did not specify what information relating to Bhatt’s performance had not been disclosed to the board.
In his resignation letter, Bhatt said he had acted in good faith and argued that remaining on the board amid a disagreement over his actions in the evaluation process would not be conducive to its effective functioning.
“I believe that continuing on the Board while there remains a disagreement considering the characteristics of my good faith actions in the Board evaluation process would not be conducive to the effective functioning of the Board,” Bhatt said in his letter.
Banking career
Bhatt spent nearly four decades at SBI, beginning his career as a probationary officer in 1972. During his banking career, he was involved in major financial inclusion initiatives before retiring.
He later served as an independent director on the boards of major companies, including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), Tata Steel Ltd and Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL).
In late 2016, Bhatt briefly served as interim chairman of Tata Steel after Cyrus Mistry was replaced.
Role in Adani-Hindenburg committee
In March 2023, the Supreme Court of India appointed Bhatt as a member of an expert committee to investigate issues related to the Hindenburg Research report on the Adani Group, according to an India Today report.
Bhatt was born on March 7, 1951 in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun. He was National Science Talent Search Scholar in Physics at DAV College, Dehradun. He completed his MA in English literature from Meerut University.