Mumbai: In a surprise move on Monday, after an eight-week standoff with chairman Ratan Tata, the erstwhile chairman of the Tata group Cyrus Mistry, resigned from the various Tata group companies where he is director.
These include Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Global Beverages and Indian Hotels. Most of them were to have their extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) in the next two weeks where shareholders had to vote on a resolution seeking his removal as director.
In a statement on his personal letterhead Mr Mistry who maintains his only agenda was to save the Tata legacy and values, said he was “moving away from the forum of the extraordinary general meetings” and has decided “to shift his campaign to a larger platform and also one where the rule of law and equity is upheld.” He did not say what this larger platform would be, but added further, “I had initially not thought that one would need to seek an external forum to adjudicate issues that should never have arisen in the first place.”
The statement which nowhere uses the words “resigning” or “resigned” says “I believe my actions are consistent with protecting the long-term interests of the Tata Group. By removing myself from the general meetings I reinforce my consistent position that this is not a fight for position but a fight to more effectively secure long term reform to keep the Tata Group on a sustainable path.”
Reacting to Mr Mistry’s resignation Tata Sons Ltd said Mr. Mistry’s resignation “is a deliberate strategy on his part, knowing fully well that the overwhelming majority of the shareholders were not in support of his actions.”
It said, “Unfortunately, Mr Mistry continues to make baseless, unsubstantiated and malicious allegations using selective disclosures of information against the very institution he claims to have the highest regard for.”
