Ousted Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry on Monday made an emotional appeal to the shareholders of six Tata group companies, asking them to take a view on the future of the Tata Group beyond immediate commercial interests.
He said they should act to effect reform and ensure transparency of governance.
The communication comes ahead of crucial extraordinary general meetings called by the companies to oust Mistry as a director on their boards.
Stating that the EGMs have been called in extraordinary circumstances, Mistry said: “I cannot help note that this is a critical juncture in the history of the Tata Group, a group founded by people of noble intention, nurtured and tended to by men and women of great vision, setting up institutions along the way that have come to define India and her development.
“I urge you to do the right thing, to draw on your strength of character, to effect reform, and to ensure transparency of governance in order to protect an institution we all, and indeed all in this nation, cherish.”
Mistry said all his actions as Chairman, “as well as my actions since I was abruptly removed on October 24, 2016, have been driven by this objective: building the Tata Group as an institution that endures, and protecting the Tata Group from threats from without and within.” In this context, Mistry asked the government to intervene in the functioning of Tata Trusts, which holds a 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons.
“At the heart of the sustainability of the Tata Group is governance reform, throughout the institution. This would mean the government ensuring the working of Tata Trusts, which are public charitable trusts, the property of the people of India, have a defined, transparent governance structure,” Mistry wrote to the shareholders.
Tata Trusts, chaired by Ratan Tata, was instrumental in Mistry’s sacking. “The conferment of all decision making power in one man or a ‘high command’ ... is unethical ... and a breach of trust. It is critical that serious decisions of severe magnitude and consequence are not taken whimsically, without much thought, or for unstated collateral objectives,” he wrote.
Mistry questioned why no reasons were cited for his dismissal. “...the signal was that Ratan Tata had an absolute right to do as he willed without having to explain himself to anyone,” Mistry said.
Tata response In response, Tata Sons issued a statement saying: “The Tata Group has enjoyed the confidence of generations of shareholders for more than a century. The shareholders of Tata Group companies are eminently qualified to see through the smokescreen of baseless allegations being passed off as an appeal to shareholders.”