Just four months before Cyrus Mistry’s removal, the Tata Sons’ Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) had agreed to recommend a 6 per cent increase in his salary and commission, even as it heaped praises on the now ousted Chairman. The hikes were to be effective from April 1, 2016.

The NRC had met on June 28, 2016, to evaluate Mistry’s performance for financial year 2016 (FY2105-16). The recommendations were adopted by Tata Sons’ board the next day, sources close to the development said.

At the NRC meeting, Mistry presented a report on self-performance and details of the various initiatives he undertook during the year. His performance as the Executive Chairman of group was lauded by the committee, according to NCR minutes, seen by BusinessLine .

Apart from Mistry, the meeting was attended by NRC head Ronen Sen, Tata Sons nominee director Vijay Singh and independent director Farida Khambata. Sen, who had been making site visits to the company’s various facilities and factories, said that Mistry had earned the respect of Chief Executive Officers, senior management and employees of various group companies.

While Sen and Khambata complimented Mistry’s performances, Vijay Singh said Tata Motors had introduced some of the best models during the recent years.

The members were also “unanimous” in their praise for Mistry and his contributions to the group. Later, on October 24, Mistry was ousted following a boardroom battle.

Ouster was in the offing Separately, sources in Tata Sons said Mistry’s ouster has been in the offing for sometime now.

“There is not a single trigger, but a number of reasons that had been happening over the past two years. Mistry was given many chances to quit the group gracefully, but he decided to stay on,” a top source, who declined to the identified, said.

One of the major allegations against Mistry is that he had promised to separate his business interests from that of the Tata Group, and despite many reminders, he had failed to do so. Mistry had also reneged on his promises that decision-making would be distributed among the group CEOs rather than being vested with a single person.

Mistry’s office, in an official e-mail, denied all these allegations and said Mistry has followed the highest level of transparency. .

As early as November 13, Mistry formally wrote to all Tata company CEOs asking them not to accept work or orders from SP group. In addition, Mistry also placed the status of all ongoing contracts of SP group in front of Tata Sons board, demonstrating the highest level of transparency.

Also, orders from Tatas to the Shapoorji Pallonji Group fell to nearly ₹1,000 crore in 2013 and almost to zero this year, the mail added.

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