Vishal Sikka on Friday resigned as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Infosys Ltd, the company said in a release. While Sikka has been appointed as Executive Vice Chairman, Infosys has appointed its Chief Operating Officer, UB Pravin Rao as Interim MD and CEO.

"The Board understands and acknowledges Dr Sikka's reasons for resignation, and regrets his decision. In particular, the Board is profoundly distressed by the unfounded personal attacks on the members of our management team that were made in the anonymous letters and have surfaced in recent months. As the Board has previously stated, a series of careful investigations found no merit to the unsubstantiated and anonymous allegations that had been asserted. The Board denounces the critics who have amplified and sought to further promote demonstrably false allegations which have harmed employee morale and contributed to the loss of the Company's valued CEO," Infosys said in a regulatory filing.

Sikka, in his resignation letter had said, "...But, the distractions that we have seen, the constant drumbeat of the same issues over and over again, while ignoring and undermining the good work that has been done, take the excitement and passion out of this amazing journey. Over the last many months and quarters, we have all been besieged by false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks. Allegations that have been repeatedly proven false and baseless by multiple, independent investigations. But despite this, the attacks continue, and worse still, amplified by the very people from whom we all expected the most steadfast support in this great transformation. This continuous drumbeat of distractions and negativity over the last several months/ quarters, inhibits our ability to make positive change and stay focused on value creation. Addressing the noise by itself is damaging; hundreds of hours of my own time has gone into this recently. But the structural challenges this engenders within the organization, has a very damaging effect on our ability to carry out any kind of a transformation, especially one that is as fundamental as transforming from a cost-oriented to an innovation oriented value delivery to clients."

"Therefore, I have come to this moment and the end of this journey. I hope that it gives everyone a chance to reflect, and give the transformation effort another big push and move the company forward rapidly to build its future, to build upon the foundation that we have laid over these past three years. If these types of attacks continue, I hope each of you will continue to be the voice of fairness and reason - providing the active, emphatic and unequivocal support that the company, the management, the employees, and all of the stakeholders and friends of the company need in order to succeed. Since the board deeply believes in the cause we have started, I will be happy to support all of you to achieve a smooth transition, and serve as your Executive Vice Chairman as discussed," Sikka had said in his resignation letter.

Sikka will receive an annual salary of $1 during his tenure as Executive Vice Chairman. "Any Company equity awards held by Dr Sikka that remain outstanding and unvested shall, during his term as Executive Vice Chairman, remain outstanding and shall continue to vest (and, in the case of stock options, become exercisable) in accordance with their terms," Infosys said in the release.

The Board also acknowledges contributions made by Sikka in Infosys' growth over the past three years. It says, "When Dr Sikka took over, the Company was lagging behind industry growth. During Dr Sikka's tenure as CEO, Infosys revenues have grown from $2.13 billion in Q1FY15 to $2.65 billion this past Q1, with strong margin performance and cash generation, throughout his tenure. Dr Sikka's approach to profitable growth delivered increase in liquid assets, including cash and cash equivalents, from $4.9 billion in June 2014 to $6.1 billion in June 2017, while paying dividends of over Rs19,000 crore, including dividend distribution tax, over these three years."

Earlier in February this year, Sikka, had reached out to employees telling them that there were "no wrongdoings" and that he was being targeted to the "point of harassment".

That time, NR Narayana Murthy, the highly regarded chief founder of Infosys, who headed SEBI's second corporate governance committee, has publicly criticised the hefty severance pay package given to the Infosys' the then chief financial officer (CFO) Rajiv Bansal and compliance officer David Kennedy, comparing it to 'hush money'.