In the face of Satyam episode and allegations of financial irregularities in Nagarjuna Finance, an industry body today alleged that independent directors on company boards are being subjected to "undue harassment".
The PHD Chamber said that it is concerned over "the treatment and undue harassment of independent directors by the authorities and the police, without even establishing whether the director was directly connected to any default or whether there were acts which were beyond his control".
Eminent lawyer and Chairman of the PHD Chamber Corporate Affairs Committee Lalit Bhasin cited the example of J M Financial Chairman Nimesh Kampani "being subjected to undue harassment".
He said that in such situations it would be very difficult for the corporate sector to get eminent and experienced people on the boards of the company as independent directors.
After breaking out of the Satyam fraud, there has been a debate whether the independent directors have lived up to the expectations of small investors.
The Satyam Computer Services board had distinguished people like former Cabinet Secretary T R Prasad and Ram Mohan Rao.
