BENGALURU: Boardroom turmoil at Coforge has deepened with independent director and Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) chair DK Singh resigning days after chairman OP Bhatt stepped down amid an internal audit that flagged concerns over how board-evaluation findings were presented to directors.Singh resigned with immediate effect, citing “differences and tension” between independent and executive directors and concerns over possible changes in strategy, transparency and compensation. His exit comes as the internal audit and governance review, which led the board to seek explanations from both Bhatt and Singh, remains open.Bhatt’s resignation followed a KPMG internal audit that flagged procedural lapses in how Coforge’s board-evaluation reports were shared with directors, including the withholding of the lowest rating given to the chairman, according to people familiar with the matter.
Boardroom shake-up
The audit found that detailed board-evaluation reports were available only to Bhatt and the NRC chair and were not shared with other directors, including independent directors. The reports were presented to the NRC and board without copies being circulated, the sources said.More significantly, the chairman’s category received the lowest rating in the evaluation, but this was not disclosed or discussed with the NRC or board, they said. Calls and text messages to Bhatt did not elicit a response by press time.The issue surfaced when KPMG reviewed governance processes as part of its Q2 FY26 internal-audit plan. According to the sources, Bhatt instructed the company secretary not to circulate the detailed reports to other directors. The NRC chair subsequently presented the findings jointly with Bhatt at NRC and board meetings, giving the board the impression that the evaluation had produced broadly positive results despite several sections receiving low scores, the sources said.The development led the board to seek an explanation from Bhatt, who resigned on September 8 before the review was concluded.In his resignation email dated Sept 10, Singh said the recent events had made it difficult for him to continue discharging his responsibilities at the organisation.“When I joined the Board in 2024, it was transitioning from a private equity-led Board to a more independent Board. While I believe that transition was moving in the right direction, it also created some differences and tension, particularly between the Independent and Executive Directors,” Singh said.