DailyPost 2284
UNACCOUNTABILITY INC.
While the politicians are famed to be unaccountable and have an uncanny knack of getting away with every idiosyncrasy they indulge in, what about India Inc.? I have been putting a hypothetical scenario to India Inc. for a long time, that if Lokpal and Right to Information legally extends its ambit on them, what would then be their plight. Saurabh Mukherjea has been talking negative about a large percentage of Indian promoters for quite a long time and also the deplorable quality of accounting of a very large number of our companies. As long as coffers keep filling in whichever manner, they are not bothered about anything.
The ICICI -Videocon saga has brought open in public domain, methodologies of ripping apart financial propriety in most blatant of the ways. If not for the whistle blower this would remained under wraps for all times to come. From conflict of interest to NPA, power used unashamedly in this country to the extent that it is presumed to be the perks of the successful. Wheels within wheels will never come out in the open if everyone’s interest being served. Only once in a while in these queer circumstances, one odd case come to light.
Unaccountability by design is the name of the game. The culture is so infectious that even the StartUps are not very far behind. The story of Ashneer Grover and co. is a stark reminder of the fact that it does not a long time to get into the downslide of corporate financial impropriety. There are lots of issues falling out to Byju’s closet as well. If it told the StartUp financial impropriety if indulged in by the established corporates, they would end up being hounded by the investigative and regulatory agencies. Can this grooming be treated as the road ahead for ushering in a bright corporate career and a roadmap for the creation of the enduring business entity.
NPA is the final result of all that has been happening in Unaccountability Inc. for a long time and the great role bankers have played to make it happen. Bankers are the day-to-day regulators of company’s health and if they become a party to the unaccountability, then it the fence eating the crop. The ICICI saga consolidates the success of this recipe. That it is extremely difficult for any case to land in the clutches of law can be safely deduced. These relationships run for a lifetime and beyond without anybody even getting a whiff of it. The co-location case is another great icing both on India and also the regulators. With promoters, management, bankers and regulatory agencies, all the declaring unaccountability as the main business principle, how far can we go?
IF THE BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM BECOMES BEREFT OF ACCOUTABILITY, WHAT DOES IT SPEAK OF THE HEALTH OF THE ECONOMY.
Sanjay Sahay