Shareholders of IDFC have rejected a proposal to re-appoint former Vinod Rai as non-independent, non-executive director to the board. The ordinary resolution to re-appoint Rai up to May 22, 2023, received just 37.71 per cent votes in favour while 62.89 per cent votes were against it, IDFC said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday.

“Item no 5 of the Resolution has not received the requisite votes and hence does not stand passed,” it said.

All other resolutions, including those to appoint Jaimini Bhagwati and Anil Singhvi as independent directors, were passed by shareholders at the annual general meeting on Wednesday.

Rai is the non-executive Chairman of IDFC. He served as the independent non-executive Chairman till May 25, 2021, and subsequently was appointed as the non-independent non-executive chairman.

The proposal to re-appoint Rai had been red-flagged by some investors recently with concerns over delay in selling the asset management business. “Rai, aged 73 years, was India’s best-known CAG who never tolerated any governance lapses or issues as the auditor of government accounts. He is best known to have brought out the coal scam and the 2G scams. While he acted as an independent director for two terms on the board of IDFC, it would go against the spirit of the rules if he now turns as a non-independent director on the same board and acts as the management person. Also, shareholders will lose faith in him,” a Mumbai-based proxy advisory firm had said.

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