Why did shareholders of IDFC reject the reappointment of Vinod Rai as non-executive director of the company?

There have been several case of shareholder activity in cases like Eicher and Finolex Cables recently. In the latest move, the IDFC shareholders have flatly rejected the re-appointment of former Comptroller & Auditor General, Vinod Rai, as the non-executive director on the IDFC board. In fact, the rejection was quite emphatic with nearly 62.3% votes rejecting the proposal and just 38% favouring. Again, it was the institutional shareholders getting active.

Interestingly, the remaining 5 resolutions went through smoothly. While Vinod Rai’s term had ended on 30-July, shareholders were grossly upset by the delay in the promised sale of the IDFC Mutual Fund business. There were also uncertain about the outcome of the reverse merger of IDFC into IDFC Bank. Vinod Rai was the CAG when the telecom 2G scam was brought to light and eventually led to the fall of the UPA government in 2014.