New Delhi: Ousted Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry termed Wednesday the NCLAT judgement to reinstate him at the helm of the company as ‘victory for the principles of good governance and minority shareholder rights’ and not his own personal triumph.
Tata Sons, on the other hand, said it will take appropriate ‘legal recourse stating it is not clear as to how the NCLAT order seeks to over-rule the decisions taken by shareholders of Tata Sons and listed Tata operating companies at validly constituted shareholder meetings’.
Mistry on his part sought to bury past bitterness, and said that it was now time that ‘all of us work together for sustainable growth and development of the Tata Group, an institution that we all cherish’.
For over 50 years, the Mistry family, as the significant minority shareholder of Tata Sons, has always endeavoured to play the role of a responsible guardian of an institution that the entire nation is proud of, Mistry added.
“For the Tata Group to prosper as an institution, it is important that the management of individual companies, their boards, the management of Tata Sons, the board of Tata Sons and the shareholders of Tata Sons, all work harmoniously within a robust governance framework, that in substance and form, protects the rights of all stakeholders, including shareholders, investors and the Tata Groups employees, who represent the strongest asset of the Group,” Cyrus Mistry said.
“The outcome of the appeal is 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,” added Mistry.
In contrast, Tata Sons said the ‘order appears to even go beyond the specific reliefs sought by the appellant (Mistry)’.
“It is not clear as to how the NCLAT Order seeks to over-rule the decisions taken by shareholders of Tata Sons and listed Tata operating companies at validly constituted shareholder meetings,” the company said in a statement.
Tata Sons strongly believes in the strength of its case and will take appropriate legal recourse. The company assures its various stakeholders that it not only has always operated in a fair and equitable manner but also acted in accordance with the law and will continue to do so,” the statement further said.
In a big win for Mistry, the NCLAT Wednesday restored him as executive chairman of Tata Sons and ruled that appointment of N Chandrasekaran as the head of the holding company of salt-to-software conglomerate was illegal.
PTI