Coforge shares plunge nearly 9% after Chairman OP Bhatt’s sudden exit; key details

Shares of Coforge Ltd, one of the key IT services companies, plunged as much as 8.68% to ₹1,780.70 apiece on the NSE in early trade on Wednesday, September 9, after O.P. Bhatt resigned as the company’s Non-Executive Independent Director and Chairperson with immediate effect on September 8.

The resignation followed concerns raised during an internal audit review of the board evaluation process, including the disclosure of certain material information relating to the Board Evaluation Report and the Chairperson’s performance.

The company said the board had sought an explanation from Bhatt and was still evaluating his response when he resigned. Vivek Sharma, Non-Executive Independent Director, has been designated as interim Chairperson until January 31, 2027.

Coforge’s statement

In a filing to stock exchanges, the company said that as part of the internal audit plan for Q2 FY26, its internal auditor reviewed, among other matters, the process followed in relation to the Board Evaluation Exercise under the guidance of the Chairman and the resulting Board Evaluation Report (BER) presented by the Chairman to the Board.

The review identified certain concerns in relation to the manner in which the BER had been dealt with and presented to the Board, including that certain material information contained in or relating to the BER and the performance of the Chairman had not been fully disclosed to the Board when the BER was presented.

"Considering these observations, the Board set out its concerns and sought an explanation from the Chairman in relation to the matters identified in the review. The Chairman provided his response to the matters raised and the Board was in the process of considering and evaluating his explanation and had not taken any final decision in relation to the matters raised with him," the statement read.

"While the Chairman stated that he had acted in good faith, the Chairman tendered his resignation from the Board with immediate effect on September 8, 2026. The Board considers it important to clarify that the Chairman's resignation followed the concerns identified in the internal audit review and the subsequent process undertaken by the Board to seek and consider his explanation in relation to those concerns," it added.

What OP Bhatt said in his resignation letter

In his resignation letter, Bhatt said he had considered the matters raised with him regarding the Board evaluation process, his response to those concerns and the circumstances that followed. He said he had therefore concluded that it was appropriate for him to resign from the Board with immediate effect.

Bhatt said the decision was not taken lightly and that, during his tenure as an Independent Director and Chairman, he had sought to discharge his responsibilities independently and objectively, while balancing the interests of shareholders, management and the company.

Bhatt added that continuing on the Board while there remained a disagreement over the nature of his good-faith actions in the Board evaluation process would not be conducive to its effective functioning. Bhatt said the matters relating to the Board evaluation process were the material reasons for his resignation and confirmed that there were no other material reasons.