Updated on Thursday, January 08, 2009, 00:00 IST

New Delhi, Jan 08: Distancing itself from troubled Satyam Computer Services, the Institute of Directors (IoD) on Thursday said it relied on the reports submitted by the company to statutory authorities while selecting the IT major for the Golden Peacock Award for corporate governance.

"We have a very strong selection process and we relied on the reports and documents submitted by the company to statutory authorities," IOD Director (Indian Secretariat) Manoj Raut said.

In view of the controversy surrounding Saytam, the IoD has decided to take away the Golden Peacock Award - the very laurel the company used for trumpeting its corporate governance norms when the controversy broke out.

"In wake of unfolding events which are the most unfortunate, we have decided to take away the award from Satyam Computers," Raut said.

"Even the World Bank, income tax authorities and other statutory bodies could not notice the financial fraud committed by Satyam," he said, adding that people generally trust the disclosures made in the annual reports.

It may be recalled that on December 30 last year, Satyam Chairman Ramalinga Raju had cited the award to highlight the company's strong corporate governance structure to justify the board's decision to bid for Maytas.

Satyam Computers was awarded the Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2008 by IoD. The firm had also won the Award for corporate excellence in 2002.

Satyam former chief Ramalinga Raju had insisted that all required processes and procedures were followed for making the 1.6-billion-dollar bid "while there was a spirited discussion among members, their vote to approve the motion was unanimous".

Another institution, Ernst & Young, which had awarded Raju with the Entrepkreneur of the Year Award in 2007, however, was tightlipped.

Bureau Report