Coforge Chairman O P Bhatt Resigns After Internal Audit Flags Concerns Overboard Evaluation Report

IT services firm Coforge on Wednesday said its Chairperson and Independent Director O P Bhatt has resigned with immediate effect after an internal audit flagged concerns over the manner in which a 'board evaluation report' was handled and presented, including non-disclosure of certain material information, to the board.

Among a clutch of filings, Coforge asserted that the board evaluation exercise conducted in March/April 2026 for the previous year does not relate to the company’s financial statements or financial matters.

The company also clarified that the issue does not have any bearing on the company's operations and business performance in the near, mid or long term guidance.

In another filing, the company said its internal auditor, as part of the audit plan for the second quarter of FY26, reviewed the process followed for the board evaluation exercise under Bhatt's guidance and the resulting Board Evaluation Report (BER) presented by him to the board.

In simple terms, a board evaluation report refers to a document that assesses performance of the board members.

"The review identified certain concerns in relation to the manner in which the BER had been dealt with and presented to the board," Coforge said, adding that certain material information contained in or relating to the BER report and the performance of the chairman had not been fully disclosed to the board when the report was presented.

Following the observations, the board raised its concerns and sought an explanation from Bhatt. The filing further said Bhatt responded to the issues raised, and the board was in the process of considering and evaluating his explanation without having taken any final decision on the matter.

Bhatt, a former chairman of SBI, maintained that he had acted in good faith but tendered his resignation from the board with immediate effect on September 8, 2026.

Coforge said his resignation followed the concerns identified by the internal audit and the subsequent process undertaken by the board to seek and consider his explanation. With his resignation, Bhatt also ceased to be a member of the company's board committees.

The Coforge board has designated Non-Executive Independent Director Vivek Sharma as interim Chairperson until January 31, 2027.

The company's stock was down 4.52% at ₹1,861 on the BSE.