Mistry misled to become Chairman: Tatas

Days ahead of meetings of shareholders of group companies to consider removing Mistry from board of key listed companies, Tata Sons said it is bringing out “key facts” that resulted “in the loss of confidence” in him and leading to his removal. 

Tata Sons said Mistry “misled” the Selection Committee set up in 2011 for selecting a Chairman of Tata Sons to succeed Ratan Tata, by “making lofty statements about his plans for the Tata Group and more importantly indicated an elaborate management structure for managing the Tata Group, given its diversity of business, by suggesting a management structure aimed at dispersal of authority and responsibility.” 

“These statements and commitments from Cyrus Mistry played an important role in the Selection Committee’s final selection of Mistry as Chairman. After waiting for a period of four years, almost none of these management structures and plans have been given effect to. Clearly, in our opinion, the Selection Committee was misled in its choice of Mistry,” it said. 

It charged Mistry of “inappropriate” conduct by retracting from his promise to distance himself from his family enterprise - Shapoorji Pallonji & Company to create “a sense of breach of trust” and posing “significant challenge to the high corporate governance principles Tata Sons strived for.” 

“This retraction, created grave concerns on Mistry’s ability to lead the Tata Group devoid of personal conflicts and put to risk the high standards of self-less governance, that lies at the core of the Tata philosophy,” it said.