A Mind Three Steps Ahead Of His Rivals

Naresh Chandra,

Former Cabinet secretary and Ambassador to The US

He looks and speaks like a non-performing babu from Uttar Pradesh. But the leisurely style hides a laser-sharp wit and a mind that is at least three steps ahead of his rivals.

Watching former Cabinet Secretary and Ambassador to the US Naresh Chandra at work is fascinating because he is so adept at stripping complexities of their pretensions without giving any offense, and at the same time, is appreciative of the simple.

Consider his role in the committee on corporate governance. The full story can now be told - how the committee was deeply divided between the reformists, those who represented the establishment like the Department of Company Affairs, and those who were batting for their profession, in the shape of chartered accountants.

The biggest battle was over the disciplinary functions of chartered accountants, who bristled with indignation every time it was suggested that their audit functions might be in need of review.

"I was able to project it (the new corporate governance code) as being good for Indian business as well as the profession of accounting, because the community had never let India down and it was in the long-term dignity of the profession to ensure this did not happen in future," he said.

It was his idea that rather than an oversight board as in the Sarbanes Oxley Law in the US, there must be as many chartered accounting professionals as others on the quality review board.

And how should quality be reviewed? Naresh Chandra wrote the definition of quality as