Shailesh Haribhakti appointed as Chairman of Blue Star

Air conditioning and commercial refrigeration major, Blue Star Limited, has announced several important Board level changes that were approved at the Meeting of the Board of Directors held on March 5, 2019.

The Board has unanimously approved the appointment of Shailesh Haribhakti as the Chairman of Blue Star with effect from April 1, 2019. He will succeed Suneel M Advani, who will be retiring from the Board on March 31, 2019 in accordance with the retirement policy for Non-Executive Directors.

In its 75 years of existence, Blue Star maintained the tradition of being ahead of the curve in terms of corporate governance, much before the very terminology came into vogue. In 2019, the Company completes 50 years of being a listed entity in Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Much ahead of the April 1, 2020 deadline for complying with the SEBI’s revised Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements with regard to separation of roles of Chairman and Managing Director, and that the persons holding these responsibilities should not be related to each other, the Company is pleased to appoint an Independent Director as the Chairman of the Board.

Shailesh Haribhakti joined the Board of Blue Star in 2005 as an Independent Director and will be the first professional, Independent Chairman in the history of the Company. He is a renowned Chartered Accountant, and among India’s leading authorities on Audit and Tax related matters. He is actively involved with several prominent financial institutions and industry bodies, including the NSE, CII, IMC and ASSOCHAM.