In First Legal Setback For Cyrus Mistry, Tribunal Dismisses Petition Against Tatas
Tribunal dismisses Cyrus Mistry contempt petition against Tata Sons Mistry had sought to block Tata Sons from removing him from board $100-billion Tata conglomerate had ousted Mistry as chairman in October
In a setback for ousted chairman of Tata Sons, Cyrus Mistry, the National Company Law Tribunal on Wednesday dismissed his contempt petition filed against Tata Sons.
National Company Law Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body that deals with corporate grievances.
Cyrus Mistry, the ousted chairman of Tata Sons, had last week moved the tribunal seeking to block the holding company of Tata group from removing him from its board. Tata Sons has called an extraordinary general meeting on February 6 to remove Mr Mistry from its board.
The $100 billion conglomerate had ousted Mr Mistry as chairman in October, sparking a bitter public spat, but he remains a director.
Mr Mistry contested the move to remove him from the board of Tata Sons when the tribunal is already hearing the larger issue of his removal from chairmanship and alleged suppression of minority shareholder rights.
Mr Mistry said that by moving to remove him from the board, Tata Sons was violating an earlier order by the tribunal asking both sides not to take any action until a preliminary ruling on February 1. Tata Sons had denied being in contempt of the tribunal's order.
The tribunal however has allowed Mr Mistry an affidavit for hearing along with the main matter.
Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investments, two investment firms owned by the family of Cyrus Mistry, had last month filed a petition at the National Company Law Tribunal, alleging mismanagement and shareholder oppression by Tata Sons, and seeking the replacement of the group's board of directors.
Mr Mistry's family holds an over 18 per cent in Tata Sons while Tata Trusts, headed by Ratan Tata has 66 per cent.
Tatas had later hit back, filing a legal notice against Mr Mistry, accusing him of breaching confidentiality rules, and alleging he shared "confidential data, business strategies, financial information" related to Tata Sons.
The Tata conglomerate last week had named TCS veteran Natarajan Chandrasekaran as the new chairman of its holding company. Chandrasekaran, 53, will take over as Tata Sons executive chairman on February 21.