Mumbai: Ratan Tata has cited the increase in share value of the Cyrus Mistry family in Tata Sons to counter Mistry’s allegations of oppression of minority shareholders in the group.
In his affidavit filed with the Supreme Court in response to Mistry’s affidavit, Tata said that the investment of Rs 69 crore of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group in 1965 stood at Rs 1 lakh crore in December 2016 according to admission from the Mistry family. In the past three years, that value has increased further to Rs 1.5 lakh crore as stated in your recent appeal.
Assuming, without in any way admitting these figures as true, that in the Mistry family’s own assessment, the value of participation in Tata Sons has increased by more than 2,100 times. There will be few parallels to this increase in shareholder value in the company. That this shareholder can call himself “oppressed” is an unfathomable irony of this whole case, “said Ratan Tata.
The Shapoorji Pallonji Group owns an 18.33 percent stake in Tata Sons.
Ratan Tata, the president emeritus of Tata Sons, further alleged that Mistry has created a smokescreen of oppression and mismanagement.
Ratan Tata said the problems Mistry raised are about the personal grievance of the loss of office, and since the grievance has its legal limitations, he has created this smokescreen to earn legal miles.
Saying it is a personal complaint, Ratan Tata said: “Knowing well the limitation of such a complaint, which at the highest could be a management dispute or a labor dispute, Cyrus Mistry has created a smokescreen of ‘oppression and evil management ‘around you. ”
Ratan Tata said Mistry was appointed by the Board of Presidents in 2012 after an evaluation by the Selection Committee and the same board four years later decided, almost unanimously, to replace him from office.
He noted that Mistry was initially asked to resign his post.
“This was a dignified way for responsible Boards to handle such decisions and how mature business leaders, despite personal disagreement with those decisions that one might have, accept those decisions gracefully,” said the Ratan Tata retort.
However, Mistry rejected the request, and then a resolution had to be filed with the Board to remove it, which was passed almost unanimously.
He said Mistry’s complaint that no reason was recorded in the board meeting minutes in support of the resolution passed by the Tata Sons board on October 24, 2016, was not true.
Mistry is waging a legal battle against Tata Sons for her expulsion from the group. He is also seeking proportional representation on the board as the largest shareholder in Tata Sons.
Last December, NCLAT had ordered the reinstatement of Mistry as president of Tata Sons. However, Mistry later said that he was not seeking Tata Sons’ highest position, but would instead fight for the rights of Tata Sons minority shareholders.
In February, Mistry moved to the Supreme Court saying that her family, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, deserved more relief from the National Court of Company Law Appeals (NCLAT).
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