Probe Mistry for leaking sensitive info: Tatas

Cyrus Mistry is on the backfoot, and Tata Sons is turning the screws. It has asked market regulator SEBI to investigate possible violation of insider-trading norms by ousted Chairman Cyrus Mistry.

In a letter to the regulator, Tata Sons said Mistry had disclosed information sensitive to listed companies as part of his submissions to the National Company Law Tribunal.

Tata Sons accuses the petitioners at the National Complany Law Tribunal — Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investment Corporation Pvt Ltd, companies in which Mistry’s family has interests — of includingconfidential corporate information that Mistry was privy to as Chairman of the conglomerate, in their complaint.

To illustrate, the letter to SEBI says sensitive information related to group companies, including Voltas, TCS, Indian Hotels Company, Tata Motors, Trent, Titan, Tata Teleservices and Tata Power, were disclosed in the NCLT petition and in an affidavit subsequently filed by Mistry at the NCLT.

Minutes of board meetings had been annexed without sensitive details being redacted, it alleged.

By revealing such information to the petitioners, Mistry breached the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015.

“The confidential and sensitive information disclosed in the petition and affidavit had been received by Mistry from Tata Sons and/or the relevant listed Tata companies at the relevant time on a need to know basis, for legitimate corporate purposes, in his capacity as a Director and Executive Chairman of Tata Sons...by passing on such information to companies owned and controlled by his family, Mistry has acted in complete violation of the confidentiality obligations and undertakings to Tata Sons,” the company alleged in its complaint letter to SEBI.

Tata Sons said that rules under Insider Trading Regulations restrict insiders from communicating or providing unpublished price sensitive information to any person. The company had earlier issued a notice to Mistry on the issue.

The Mistry camp has so far maintained that no sensitive details were given out, and that all information had been shared as per the requirement of existing laws.

Tata Sons said that by disclosing price-sensitive information, Mistry had caused direct losses and damage to the group and exposed it to third-party claims for breach of confidentiality obligations.

“Tata Sons has every intention to hold Mistry and/or the petitioners liable for all such claims,” the company said.