Tata Group on Sunday said that Cyrus Mistry’s continuance on the board of various group companies is likely to lead to fragmentation of the group. It also said that Mistry had misled the selection committee set up in 2011 for selecting the Chairman of Tata Sons.
In appeal to shareholders of various Tata companies, the Tata group said, “In order to assist you to exercise your shareholder rights in an informed manner, it would be appropriate to bring to your attention some key facts which resulted in the loss of confidence in Mr. Cyrus P. Mistry by Tata Sons.”
Mistry, who was selected as the chairman of the holding company with great pomp in 2012, was unceremoniously removed on October 24 2016. Since then, much dirty linen has been washed in the public as both Mistry and Tata Sons have been hitting out at each other.
Tata Sons stated, “Mistry did not distance himself from his family enterprise Shapoorji Pallonji & Co as promised.”
It also said that the ousted chairman’s reversal from his commitments raised questions on his ability to spearhead the group. “Mistry’s retraction from commitments created grave concern on his ability to lead Tata Group devoid of personal conflicts and put to risk high standards of self philosophy.”
“Dividend income (other than from TCS) declined continuously and staff costs more than doubled during Mistry’s tenure,” the company said.
Escalating his fight against Tatas, ousted Mistry on Monday had said government has an “inherent obligation” to “remedy and repair breakdown” in the governance of Tata Trusts, the major shareholder of the group’s promoter firm Tata Sons, alleging absence of appropriate structure and ethical behaviour of trustees.
