iGATE boss forgets to reward police
By Pulkit Sharma

Phaneesh Murthy is a respected member of the establishment these days. In 2008, his company iGATE was even voted as the best ‘IT Employer’ in India. This is always a subjective list, but a worthwhile recognition nevertheless.  Phaneesh is a welcome member of the elite clubs in Bangalore. But local police are not happy with him.

It is as if the alleged harassment case in USA never happened. 10 years ago, Phaneesh Murthy was Head of Sales, Marketing and Communications of Infosys, USA and was fighting a harassment case lodged by his secretary Reka Maximovitch.  The Indian tech industry was agog with rumour and innuendo as this was the first time that a secretary to a top IT official had alleged such harassment by her boss.  This was more shocking as Infosys has an impeccable reputation of high standards by its managers.

By 2002, Phaneesh ‘resigned’ from Infosys to fight the legal case lodged in America.  Infosys had an out of court settlement with the accuser Reka, but made it very clear that Phaneesh would not be rejoining the organization.

Phaneesh Murthy tried out the consulting business and a few other things before joining as President and CEO if iGATE Corporation.  An IIT and IIM alumni with a successful track record at Infosys, Phaneesh took iGATE from a staffing firm to a software solutions provider.  

Even while Phaneesh prefers a low profile these days, sometimes it is hard to avoid the pesky media.  Especially, if it is a feel good story about how the tech boss had offered the police a reward of 10 percent (1.8 lakhs) for their efficiency in solving a burglary at his home. Goods and cash worth Rs. 18 lakh were stolen from his villa at the high security Shobha Lotus complex at Whitefield in 2009.

But while we often hear of tech bosses forgetting promises to their techies, in this case Phaneesh Murthy forgot his promise of a reward to the police.

Bangalore Mirror reported on Jan 22, 2010

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Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, B N Gopala Krishna, Inspector of Whitefield police station, said, “We have not received any reward so far. We don’t work expecting rewards. In Phaneesh Murthy’s case, we were lucky enough to catch the culprits within five days. Impressed by our work, he offered us a reward of 10 per cent of the recovered valuables which amounts to 1.8 lakh rupees. We have not received it from Phaneesh Murthy till date.” He went on to add: “We do not know if Phaneesh Murthy, who has a busy schedule, is aware of this or not. As a matter of principle, we will not remind him of his promise. We cannot tarnish the image of Bangalore Police by reminding Phaneesh Murthy of his promise.
“

Mr. Murthy, not a very good idea to ‘forget’ your promise of rewarding the police. Especially, the Indian police. They will leak the news to the media to embarrass you. And let’s not even discuss seeking police help the next time there is a theft at home.