Infosys co-founder Senapathy Kris Gopalakrishnan, along with
former Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Director Balaram and 16 others, has
been named in a case filed under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act,
Bengaluru police confirmed on Monday, January 27. The case was registered at
the Sadashiva Nagar police station following the directive of the 71st City
Civil and Sessions Court.
The complaint was lodged by Durgappa, a faculty member at
IISc’s Centre for Sustainable Technology, who belongs to the Bovi tribal
community. Durgappa alleged that he was falsely implicated in a honey trap case
in 2014, which led to his dismissal from the institute. He further claimed to
have been subjected to caste-based abuse and threats during his tenure.
The accused individuals, apart from Kris Gopalakrishnan and
Balaram, include Govindan Rangarajan, Sridhar Warrier, Sandya Vishweshwaraih,
Hari KVS, Dasappa, Hemalata Mhishi, Chattopadhyaya K, Pradeep D Sawkar, and
Manoharan.
There has been no official statement from the IISc or Kris
Gopalakrishnan regarding these allegations.
Kris Gopalakrishnan's Background
Kris Gopalakrishnan co-founded Infosys and served as its CEO
and Managing Director between 2007 and 2011, later becoming Vice Chairman until
2014. He has also held prestigious roles such as the President of the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and co-chair at the World Economic Forum
in Davos in 2014.
A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 2011, Gopalakrishnan
holds advanced degrees in Physics and Computer Science from IIT Madras. He is
also a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers and an Honorary
Fellow of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers in
India.