Mistry was fired from the top job after he had a fallout with the group owner, Ratan Tata, over the issue of corporate governance at Tata group companies.
Mumbai: An order by National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to reinstate Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons has been stayed by the Supreme Court on Friday. The verdict comes a week after Tata Sons challenged the restoration of Cyrus Mistry as Executive Chairman of the group by the law tribunal of the company in December. Mistry was fired from the top job after he had a fallout with the group owner, Ratan Tata, over the issue of corporate governance at Tata group companies. Since then, Mistry has been fighting a legal battle to claim minority shareholder oppression and mismanagement.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Bobde said that the Tribunal’s decision to reinstate Mistry as chairman of the group may be an ‘adjudication error’ permeating the whole order.
According to the order issued by the tribunal on December 18, Mistry was restored at top of Tata sons, three years after his unprecedented sacking from the group at a board meeting. NCLAT also stated that the appointment of N Chandrasekharan as head of the holding company of $110-billion salt-to-software conglomerate is illegal.
Mistry clarified after the ruling that he’d not be seeking to reclaim his board seats and position at Tata sons.
Ratan Tata was appointed as Interim Chairman of the group after the sacking of Mistry in October 2016. The change came in after four years of Mistry replacing Tata for the same position in 2012.
Tata Sons had appeared in the Supreme Court against the ruling of NCLAT. A handful of Tata group companies including the reputed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had applied against NCLAT’s ruling.
Mistry, after resigning in 2016 of his responsibility of director in all Tata Sons companies, went to NCLAT alleging minority shareholder oppression and mismanagement. N Chandrasekharan was appointed as Chairman by Tata Sons in January 2017. In the very next month, Mistry was removed from the post of director in the Tata Sons board. Chandrasekharan was the first Non-Parsi to be appointed as a Chairman of Tata Sons.
Mistry is currently a Managing Director of Shapoorji Pallonji and company. The company is part of the Shapoorji Pallonji group owned by his family. He joined the board Tata Sons in 2006 which followed by his appointment as a Deputy Chairman in November 2011.
Tata Trusts, a public charity group led by Ratan Tata, holds the controlling stake of 66% in holding company Tata Sons. Mistry’s family owns a significant minority stake in Tata Sons. Mistry said that his company would seek to appoint a member of the board of Tata Sons considering their stake.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
