Tata Sons To Challenge Tribunal’s Order Reinstating Cyrus Mistry As Chairman

Tata Sons has said that it will take appropriate legal recourse against Wednesday’s verdict of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) reinstating Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of Tata Sons.

The holding company of the Tata group firms further said that it was not clear how the order sought to over-rule decisions taken by its shareholders and those of listed group firms at ‘validly constituted shareholder meetings.’

Reacting to the tribunal’s order, Tata Sons said, “The order appears to even go beyond the specific relief sought by the appellant, Mistry.”

Tata Sons strongly believes in the strength of its case and will take appropriate legal recourse, it said in a statement. The company also assured its “various stakeholders that it has not only always operated in a fair and equitable manner but also acted in accordance with the law and will continue to do so”.

Earlier in the day, Cyrus Mistry had called his being restored as the executive chairman of Tata Sons by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), “a vindication of my stand taken when the then board of Tata Sons, without warning or reason removed me, first as the executive chairman and subsequently as a director of Tata Sons.”

He said the NCLAT’s verdict isn’t a personal victory for him rather it is a victory for the principles of good governance and minority shareholder rights.

The verdict came three years after his dramatic sacking at a board meeting following which Ratan Tata took over as interim chairman.

Rest of the verdict…..

That the appointment of N Chandrasekaran as head of the holding company of over USD 110 billion salt-to-software conglomerates was illegal.

That the group’s chairman emeritus Ratan Tata’s actions against Mistry were oppressive.

It quashed the conversion of Tata Sons into a private company from a public firm.

It directed Tata Sons not to take any action against Mistry, whose family owns some 18 per cent interest in Tata Sons.

It stayed the operation of the order on reinstatement for four weeks to allow Tatas to appeal.