New Delhi: Former ICRA boss Naresh Takkar has called his sacking by the board of the ratings agency as a “grossly incorrect”, “unfair” and “illegal” action.
In a letter to the company’s shareholders, which was made public on Friday evening, Takkar said that the board’s actions had “completely damaged” his “social standing and reputation”.
On August 29, ICRA, which is the local Indian arm of global ratings firm Moodys, had sacked Takkar after receiving an anonymous complaint that alleged wrong-doing by the firm in the IL&FS controversy.
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In his letter, the former ICRA boss has complained that he had supported an independent investigation into the complaint but was able to inspect the anonymous representations only on August 24, five days before he was fired.
Takkar, who emphasises that he found the allegations “baseless and vague”, notes:
“ICRA received anonymous representations sometime in November 2018. From day one, I fully supported independent investigations. However, during the last few months I had serious concerns about the lack of transparency, fairness and independence of the investigations, and also the Board’s reluctance to deal with the same. After repeated requests I was allowed to inspect the representations on August 24, 2019 for the first time.
I found the allegations completely baseless and vague. Since my access to all of ICRA’s documents, emails etc was barred way prior to the representations being shown to me, I was constrained to request the board to provide me with back-up data and information to enable me to respond to the allegations in my best capacity. This request as well as my various concerns about the Board’s conduct and its investigations, have not been responded to till date.”
Takkar adds that the “unwarranted, unfair and illegal action” has prompted him to consider taking legal action:
“..I feel highly disappointed and aggrieved at the grossly unfair manner in which ICRA board has wrongly dealt with me… This is something the shareholders must ponder and ask of the decision makers. I reserve all my legal rights and remedies available to me, for such injustice rendered to me.”