Cyrus Mistry’s Shapoorji Pallonji Group has urged the Supreme Court to review its judgment that backs the Tata Group’s decision to remove him as the chairman.
Last month, the Supreme Court had endorsed the removal of Cyrus Mistry and set aside a company law tribunal order that had reinstated him. “That failed business decisions and the removal of a person from Directorship can never be projected as acts oppressive or prejudicial to the interests of the minorities, is too well-settled. In fact it may be conceded today by Tata sons that one important decision that the Board took on 16.03.2012 certainly turned out to be a wrong decision of a life time,” said the judges.
Days after the Tata Group’s big win in one of the most high-profile boardroom legal battles in recent years, Mr Mistry had said “life is not always fair” but “I sleep with a clear conscience”.
“As a minority shareholder of Tata Sons, I am personally disappointed by the outcome of the judgement with respect to our case. Although I will no longer be able to influence the direction of governance of the Tata group directly, I hope that the issues I have raised, will cause deeper reflection and influence individuals concerned to catalyse change. I sleep with a clear conscience,” he said said in a statement.
In October, 2016, Cyrus Mistry was removed as Tata Sons chairman after a dramatic ouster. Months later, in December, two Mistry family-backed investment firms – Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Corporation Pvt Ltd – moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), alleging oppression of minority shareholders and mismanagement by Tata Sons. They also challenged Mr Mistry’s removal.
Next year, in February, Mr Mistry was removed as a director on the board of Tata Sons, holding company of Tata group firms. The legal battle went on. In December 2019, the company law tribunal restored Mr Mistry as the executive chairman of the conglomerate.
Last year, Tata Sons had challenged the company law tribunal’s decision in the Supreme Court. In March, the top court scrapped the the law tribunal’s order.
Industrialist Ratan Tata said the judgement was a “validation of the values and ethics that have always been the guiding principle of the group”.
“I appreciate and I am grateful for the judgement passed by the honourable Supreme Court today. It’s not an issue of winning or losing. After relentless attacks on my integrity and the ethical conduct of the group, the judgement upholding all the appeals of Tata Sons is a validation of the values and ethics that have always been the guiding principle of the group,” he wrote in a tweet.
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