NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel has sacked Jay Menon, group CIO and the company's director of global Innovation & IT, for code of conduct violations, multiple people familiar with the matter said.
"During an internal investigation, it was found that Menon had economic interests in some of the companies which were awarded (third party vendor) contracts," one of people told ET.
The company spokesperson confirmed Menon's exit, but didn't specify the reasons.
Menon called the allegations "baseless" and denied that he had been asked to leave. He said that his exit from the company "sometime" earlier this month had been on the cards for a while.
"I had planned to leave the company much before and this was a well thought out and a planned move. All the events narrated are wild imagination and no such thing has happened. I am leaving on a very good note with Sunil Mittal," Menon told ET
However, a second person in the know of things said Menon's office was sealed on December 3 and he was asked to leave.
Menon first joined Bharti Airtel in 2002 and, in his latest position, was responsible for overseeing the entire network operations of the company, which included awarding contracts to various IT companies.
According to people familiar with the development, contracts for third party vendor outsourcing were allegedly given to certain select companies on Menon's directions.
Airtel has launched a full-fledged investigation into the matter.
Menon has had a sterling academic as well as a professional career and is considered a pioneer of the model of outsourcing network followed by Bharti, and then replicated by most of India's and the global telecom industry.
Having completed his graduation from IIT Delhi, he did his post graduation and doctorate in computer science from the reputed Cornell University in the US.
He started his career at IBM's TJ Watson Research Labs, before rising up the ranks to become the executive director of the company's software group. His next did a two-year stint at AT&T, also in the US, rising to the position of executive vice president & corporate officer, product innovation (marketing). He quit the company in 2002 to return to India and join Bharti Airtel.
"During an internal investigation, it was found that Menon had economic interests in some of the companies which were awarded (third party vendor) contracts," one of people told ET.
The company spokesperson confirmed Menon's exit, but didn't specify the reasons.
Menon called the allegations "baseless" and denied that he had been asked to leave. He said that his exit from the company "sometime" earlier this month had been on the cards for a while.
"I had planned to leave the company much before and this was a well thought out and a planned move. All the events narrated are wild imagination and no such thing has happened. I am leaving on a very good note with Sunil Mittal," Menon told ET
However, a second person in the know of things said Menon's office was sealed on December 3 and he was asked to leave.
Menon first joined Bharti Airtel in 2002 and, in his latest position, was responsible for overseeing the entire network operations of the company, which included awarding contracts to various IT companies.
According to people familiar with the development, contracts for third party vendor outsourcing were allegedly given to certain select companies on Menon's directions.
Airtel has launched a full-fledged investigation into the matter.
Menon has had a sterling academic as well as a professional career and is considered a pioneer of the model of outsourcing network followed by Bharti, and then replicated by most of India's and the global telecom industry.
Having completed his graduation from IIT Delhi, he did his post graduation and doctorate in computer science from the reputed Cornell University in the US.
He started his career at IBM's TJ Watson Research Labs, before rising up the ranks to become the executive director of the company's software group. His next did a two-year stint at AT&T, also in the US, rising to the position of executive vice president & corporate officer, product innovation (marketing). He quit the company in 2002 to return to India and join Bharti Airtel.
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