Jayesh Sanghrajka is interim CFO of Infosys

Sanghrajka has spent 13 years in Infosys over two stints and has performed various leadership roles in the finance section.

Infosys on Thursday named Jayesh Sanghrajka as the interim chief financial officer to succeed M D Ranganath.

The Bengaluru-based company, in a regulatory filing, said the board is in the process of selecting the next CFO.

In August, Ranganath had resigned from the company, a surprise move that industry watchers said raised questions about stability at the country's second largest IT services firm.

"...the board of directors at its meeting today appointed Jayesh Sanghrajka as the interim CFO and key managerial personnel of the company with effect from November 17, 2018," it said adding that Ranganath will step down from the role on Friday.

Ranganath, fondly known as Ranga, has been working with Infosys for close to two decades and had taken over the CFO role in 2015 after the exit of Rajiv Bansal.

Infosys, at that time, had said Ranganath was leaving Infosys to "pursue professional opportunities in new areas" and would continue as the CFO till November 16.

The board had commenced the search for Ranganath's successor immediately.

It was being speculated that Sanghrajka, executive vice president and deputy CFO at Infosys, would succeed Ranganath.

Sanghrajka has spent 13 years in Infosys over two stints and has performed various leadership roles in the finance section.

Apart from Infosys, Jayesh worked at multiple firms such as KPMG, Tishman Speyer, Rediff and MuSigma.

Ranganath's exit was described as an "irreplaceable loss" for the company at a "critical juncture" by Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy as he "understood all important stakeholders, including clients, delivery teams, employee aspirations, finance, investors, governance, and the law".

He was seen as a stabilising factor especially among investors, given his long innings, including the stormy phase last year.

Infosys had witnessed a protracted stand-off last year between its high-profile founders led by Murthy and the previous management last year over allegations of corporate governance lapses and issues related to severance package doled out to former executives, including Rajiv Bansal.

Another flashpoint was the acquisition of Israeli technology firm Panaya by Infosys under former CEO Vishal Sikka.

Anonymous whistleblower reports flagging some of these issues were also submitted to market regulators in the US and in India.

This tussle led to the sudden resignation of Sikka as CEO in August last year, followed by exit of its then chairman R Seshasayee and two other board members.

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani was then brought in as chairman to steer the firm during the turbulent phase and Salil Parekh joined as CEO in January this year.

The new management has been engaging extensively with employees and shareholders to address these issues.

Earlier this year, Infosys also announced that it was selling Panaya.

Infosys has seen a number of senior-level exits including Rajesh Krishnamurthy (former President), Sangita Singh (ex-healthcare business head) and former independent director Ravi Venkatesan.

Photograph: Vivek Prakash/Reuters