What is the exact reason behind the exit of Binny Bansal from Flipkart?

Both the founders of Flipkart are now non-existent in the company. While Sachin Bansal made a clean, humble and richexit from the company earlier this year after 77 percent acquisition by Walmart, Binny Bansal is now left with a heap of a mess even after his unfortunate and unforeseen resignation.

(Courtesy: Livemint)

The news came earlier on Tuesday that the only left founder of Flipkart, a behemoth in Indian e-commerce, is leaving. Binny Bansal voluntarily decided to step down from his role. In a press release, the company cited “allegations of serious misconduct” as the reason behind his decision. But then, so vague in its context, the statement raises more questions than it answers.

Here’s how the whole event folded:

• On an unknown date even before Flipkart was purchased by Walmart, Binny Bansal was involved in some kind of “incident” with one of his employees. Several reports suggest that he sexually harassed a woman.

• The employee made informal complaints against Binny. But since no action was taken, she decided to quit the company. (No date is known)

• Walmart purchases Flipkart earlier in 2018.

Now, here things get a tad blurry with different websites reporting versions.

(i) One report suggests that the ex-employee decided to file a fresh and formal complaint with the company about the incident.

(ii) Another report suggests that Walmart, from the front, decided to open that case and probe the allegationsagainst Binny Bansal.

Regardless of which version is true, following the investigation’s conclusive report:

• Binny Bansal decided to step down from his post in Flipkart. Although, he remains in the board with his 5 percent stake in the company!!

Here’s an email Binny sent to all the employees…

“The allegations left me stunned and I strongly deny them. The investigation, however, did bring to light lapses in judgment, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how I responded to the situation. These have been challenging times for my family and me. I am concerned that this may become a distraction for the company and the team. In light of these circumstances, I feel it is best to step away as chairman and group CEO.”

• Right after Binny Bansal announced his resignation, Walmart released a statement saying…

“His (Binny’s) decision follows an independent investigation done on behalf of Flipkart and Walmart into an allegation of serious personal misconduct. He strongly denies the allegation. Nevertheless, we had a responsibility to ensure the investigation was deliberate and thorough. While the investigation did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Binny, it did reveal other lapses in judgment, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation. Because of this, we have accepted his decision to resign.”

Evidently, neither party is clear in what exactly happened? How do they define “serious misconduct”? Is it about sexual harassment that so many reports suggest? If yes, shouldn’t Binny be prosecuted and dragged to the court?

(Courtesy: New Indian Express)

These are important questions whose answers are based on rumors.

Even when Binny denies all the allegations, why did he really step down then? Did Walmart force him to? Did Walmart systematically oust the two founders of the company?

We’ll never know the answers.

We will never really know the real reason behind the exit of Binny Bansal from Flipkart.

As for now, we’ll have to stick to the “media reality” of the incident: Binny Bansal sexually harassed an employee. His new boss Walmart decided to investigate the matter. Upon being found guilty, Binny himself resigned.