While the investigation did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Binny, it did reveal other lapses in judgement, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation

Binny Bansal (right) with Sachin Bansal

Binny Bansal, CEO of Walmart-owned Flipkart Group, has resigned from the post over “allegation of serious personal misconduct”, the global retail giant said on Tuesday.

His decision follows an independent investigation conducted on behalf of Flipkart and Walmart into the allegation of sexual assault that dates back a few years.

“Earlier today, Binny Bansal announced his resignation as CEO of Flipkart Group, effective immediately. Binny has been an important part of Flipkart since co-founding the company, but recent events risked becoming a distraction and Binny has made a decision to step down,” a Walmart statement said.

“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 judgement, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation. Because of this, we have accepted his decision to resign,” the statement reads.

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According to a Reuters report, the allegation of sexual assault against Bansal came to the company in July. The individual concerned was a former Flipkart associate, who was not with the company at the time of making the allegation.

The statement from Walmart further added that Bansal has been contemplating a transition for some time and the companies have been working together on a succession plan, which has now been accelerated.

Going forward, Kalyan Krishnamurthy will continue to be CEO of Flipkart, which will now include Myntra and Jabong, continuing to operate as separate platforms within the Flipkart business. Ananth Narayanan will continue providing great leadership as CEO of Myntra and Jabong, and will report into Kalyan. Sameer Nigam will continue leading PhonePe as CEO. Both Kalyan and Sameer will report directly into the board.

Walmart acquired 77 per sent stake in Flipkart for US$16 billion in in May this year. The remainder of the business is held by some of Flipkart’s existing shareholders, including Binny Bansal, Tencent Holdings, Tiger Global Management and Microsoft Corp.

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