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How India Reacts to Rajat Gupta's Sentence Email this page
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Bangalore: Former Goldman Sachs director, Rajat Gupta, 63, has been convicted of insider trading by a New York court and he now faces a prison sentence of 2 years. During the trial which lasted months, the prosecution accused the one time director of Procter & Gamble, through wiretap evidence, of brazenly revealing confidential company information to his friend, hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam. Rajaratnam, who is the founder of the $7 billion Galleon hedge fund, is already serving a 11 year prison term for insider trading.
The case has been on the industry watch list for quite some time. The former IIT and Harvard Business School alumnus has greatly contributed to charitable endeavors across the globe. Bill Gates among many others, had come out in his support before the date set for sentencing, stating: "I know most personally that the poor of the world have a profoundly capable & articulate advocate in Rajat Gupta," in a letter to the presiding Judge Jed Rakoff. Mukesh Ambani, talking about Rajat’s philanthropy had said: "He always talked about things he wanted to do for India, for others, never about himself. I respect Rajat's selfless dedication" His defence counsel had argued for leniency in his sentencing and asked for the sentence to be commuted to community service in Rwanda. The denial of this plea has shattered the hopes of his many industrialist friends and well-wishers worldwide, especially in India. Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej Group, reflecting on his 20 year long friendship with Rajat Gupta had written on the website supporting Rajat for lenient verdict:” I have found Rajat very devoted to various causes that he has taken up, especially to help India’s development and progress. Rajat has always been a person of great integrity and clarity of purpose.” He further stated that “My admiration for Rajat remains as strong as ever.”

Max India Chairman, Analjit Singh, reacting to the verdict said that "This is a part of the evolution, but it is very harsh on Rajat."(as per PTI)

Industrialist Rahul Bajaj while expressing relief over the relatively short sentence of 2 years ,in comparison to the ten year sentence which the prosecution had been after, stated : “Under the American law, there was no way his request for community service without going to jail (would have been accepted). We knew he will go to jail....Two years is a light sentence and we must thank the judge. (as per PTI).As per an interview to Business Today, Dr. Reddy’s Vice chairman G.V. Prasad while talking about Rajat’s charitable educational work including his role in establishment of Indian School of Business said," One feels at times that we do not know everybody completely. We know a certain portion of a person. I have always admired Rajat as an individual of great calibre, wanting to do good for the world. So, this part of him, where he talked to Raj Rajaratnam or whatever, has always been something of a mystery to me. It is important for us businesspeople to be more watchful in everything we do to ensure that not just the law but also the spirit of the law is respected."

Chairman & managing director of Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, said, as per Wall Street Journal,India, “I was expecting the sentence to be a lot more lenient. They decided to make an example of a good man, who in a moment of weakness made an error of judgment. He comes across as a humanitarian, a good person, a man of integrity. And that’s why I think he’s paying a very lofty price for an error of judgment. He’s a man who was keen on making a change in his home country, in areas like healthcare and governance. So it’s very said that he had to be the fall guy.”

As per the report, Rana Kapoor, managing director and chief executive officer of Yes Bank Ltd, expressed his disappointment over the verdict stating “I personally believe that the sentence is very extreme. It should have been duly weighted against his sterling track record on the social front, public policy and extraordinary work.”

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