Tata Communications today said that its independent director Dr V R S Sampath has resigned from the board and ceases to be a director with effect from yesterday.
Sampath, along with P V Kalyanasundaram, were appointed to Tata Communications’ board in 2005 as a nominee of the government of India, which holds a stake in the company. Kalayanasundaram tendered his resignation on May 20, 2011.
These resignations have become a controversy after a few media reports suggested that both these directors belonged to the DMK party. And that they would resign after DMK supremo Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi was arrested in connection with the 2G scam.
“The company is not aware of the political affiliations of its Directors, if any. In this particular case, neither the government nor the concerned independent directors have made any disclosure regarding their political affiliations. The appointment of Kalyanasundaram and Sampath to the Tata Communications board followed their nomination by the government and their election at the annual general meetings,” Tata said in a statement earlier.