New Delhi: Former Chairman of Tata Sons, Cyrus Mistry, texted his wife Rohiqa on October 24, 2016 that he was being sacked, just minutes before the all-important Board meeting.
These claims were being made in a blog by Nirmalya Kumar, who was part of the core group executive council (GEC) formed by Mistry.
Kumar also said that just minutes before the meeting, board member Nitin Nohria had informed Mistry about the decision. "He (Mistry) is offered the option of resigning or facing the resolution for his removal at the upcoming Board meeting. Ratan Tata chimes in at this stage to say he is sorry that things have reached this stage," wrote Kumar.
During the meeting, Mistry had argued that the articles of association required a 15-day notice before a resolution, like the one where he was sacked, could be taken up.
"Another Tata Trust nominee, Amit Chandra informed the board that the legal opinion obtained by the Trusts stated such a notice was not necessary. He offered to share the opinion, but none has been to date," said the blog.
"The conference room is where Cyrus first got a chance to sit down, visibly shaken, and asked for a cup of tea. They knew they needed a public relations agency and a lawyer immediately. What they did not know was that Tata had already engaged six major public relations companies and booked many of the most prominent lawyers in the country in a bid to squeeze the resources available to Cyrus post firing..."
According to Kumar, Mistry’s ouster stood out because the Tata Group had a history of only six chairmen over 148 years. “Cyrus Mistry was selected after a careful process that took over a year, and by assuming the role at the age of 46, he was expected to serve between 20-30 years," wrote Kumar.
On October 24, Tata Sons announced that its Board has replaced Cyrus P Mistry as Chairman of Tata Sons at a meeting held in Mumbai. The board has named Ratan Tata as interim chairman of the over $100 billion salt-to-software conglomerate.
The Tata group had come out with a press statement, after the entire episode created a PR debacle for both parties, stating that there were conflict of interest issues with Mistry and that despite his four-year tenure, he had not implemented any promised reforms, while only increasing expenditure without increasing income.
Mistry was chosen as Tata's successor in November 2011 and was appointed Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons, whose board he had entered in 2006.
On February 21, former head of TCS N Chandrasekaran took over as the chairman of Tata Sons, four months after Mistry’s ouster.
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