The National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) Mumbai Bench rejecting Cyrus Mistry’s petition is a reinforcement of the Tata group’s principles and vindicates its stance, Tata Sons’ Chairman Emeritus Ratan N Tata said.
“The judgment of NCLT, delivered this morning has been a vindication of the actions that Tata Sons felt obliged to take in October 2016. It is a reinforcement of the principles and forthrightness that prevails in our judicial system, which should make all of us proud of our country and its democracy,” Tata said in a statement.
A significant part of the allegations made by Mistry was against Ratan Tata.
This included allegations of interference by Tata in decision-making and influencing board members of Tata Sons in ousting Mistry from the chairmanship.
Mistry had said Tata’s interference had reduced him to a "lame duck Chairman." He had also alleged of ethical concerns at AirAsia, including fraudulent transactions, and said Nano (the world’s cheapest car project) was being kept alive for “emotional reasons” as production costs were much higher. On telecom business, he had alleged that it had been “continuously haemorrhaging”, and the deals with businessman C Sivasankaran (CEO, Siva Group) were “questionable”.
Mistry had also said that the acquisition of Corus by Tata Steel Europe in 2007 for $12 billion was a “wrong business decision”, indirectly blaming Ratan Tata, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had a “near death experience” with Tatas coming close to selling off the software firm.
Even as he lost the case in NCLT, Mistry did not back off.
“In this journey, no matter how hard it may seem, as shareholders who have always supported the Tata Group, it remains our duty to protect the Tata Group from those who were destroying value and making the Group vulnerable to external forces,” Mistry said in a statement indicating that the bitter rivalry was far from over.