An upset Phaneesh Murthy charged Infosys on Sunday with retaliating to a legal battle initiated by him against the company.

Speaking on Infosys' decision to reserve the right to proceed against him legally, Phaneesh told Business Standard that his lawyers had issued a demand notice of Rs 8.5 crore (Rs 85 million) to Infosys for withholding 28,000 vested and paid-off shares due to him after he left the company in July 2002.

"I have already suffered significant financial losses as a result of it," Phaneesh said.

He said Infosys shares had fallen almost 40 per cent since July 2002 and the company should compensate for the loss. The Infosys scrip, which traded at around Rs 3,100 on the Bombay Stock Exchange in July, is now hovering around Rs 2,900.

When contacted, an Infosys spokesperson said, "Our reacting to the statement from Phaneesh Murthy will cause him acute embarrassment. Hence, at this time, we do not want to respond to it."

Phaneesh also said his outsourcing advisory firm Primentor had recently got a $60 million software services order from an Indian company.