Infosys Foundation itself requested for de-registration under FCRA, clarifies Sudha Murthy

Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murthy on Tuesday said the NGO was deregistered under FCRA, not because of any violations but because it had itself requested for the same.

"We are really hurt by reports that the foundation was deregistered because of violations. We have not done anything wrong, there were no violations of FCRA," an emotional Murthy told CNBC-TV18.

Murthy cut short her trip in London and returned to Bengaluru on Tuesday to clear the air around the controversy.

Murthy said that the Infosys Foundation had been registered under FCRA in 2016 to keep with the then relevant guidelines which recognised Infosys Technologies, the only funding source to the NGO, as a foreign source given the majority ownership by foreign-based entities.

However, the amendment in May 2016 no longer considered such entities as foreign, leading to the NGO seeking to be deregistered under FCRA.

Infosys Foundation gets Rs 400 crore a year from Infosys Technologies, said Murthy.

"We applied for deregistration in June 2016 and provided bank statements and annual reports up to March 2018. We got MHA acknowledgement verbally for deregistration, but we insisted for a response in writing," she added.

Murthy's team said that the matter was closed in January 2019 and wondered why the issue turned into a controversy now.

"We are disappointed that people are making statements on Infosys and Infosys Foundation," Murthy said, adding that the NGO has been focused on its work on cyclone relief in Puri.

"People don't even read. Ask us the questions and then hang us," she added, expressing her disappointment.