Murthy backs Birla, says accusations will affect investor sentiment

After ministers like Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot and industry minister Anand Sharma have been rallying behind Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Executive Chairman and founder of Infosys, NR Narayana Murthy has now come out to defend Birla, in the FIR filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the coal scam case in relation to coal block allocations to Aditya Birla Group owned Hindalco. Talking to CNN-IBN Murthy said that this move will not go down well with foreign investors as well as domestic businesses. “Kumar is one of the most respected business people. Therefore any accusation against Kumar without a detailed, highly diligent and complete set of facts is not likely to go well in the eyes of the investors from abroad, as well as in the eyes of the business people from India,” Murthy said. [caption id=“attachment_1181251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] He also said that the government should not make accusations without being absolutely sure. “It is very very important for the authorities to be 100% certain about their facts and data before making such an accusation against such an icon,” Murthy said. Meanwhile, KM Birla, met Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday and seemed unperturbed by the FIR against him. After the meeting, Birla told CNN-IBN that he was not worried about the FIR as he had done nothing wrong. “I met Finance Minister P Chidambaram and discussed various issues. I am not worried about the FIR,” Birla told _CNN-IBN_ . The government, meanwhile, is in damage control mode after the CBI named Birla in the coal scam. Following the meeting of the Finance Minister P Chidamabaram with Birla Friday evening, sources told CNN-IBN that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked Chidamabaram and Anand Sharma to reassure industrialists that the government is not against them. The CBI had booked Birla as a representative of Aditya Birla Group and his group company Hindalco. The said company is one of the biggest producers of primary aluminium in Asia and the CBI has alleged corruption in the allocation of the Talabira II coal blocks in Odisha which was allotted to the company on November 10, 2005.