Bitter war of words intensify between Cyrus Mistry and Tata Sons

Company trying to calm the storm before it turns nastier.

Tata Sons on Thursday issued a statement to clarify the allegations made by its former chairman Cyrus P. Mistry who was sacked on Monday in an unexpected move.

Mistry had made some allegations against the management in a letter written to the board members which was leaked on Wednesday.

The statement noted that the letter was leaked “in an unseemly and undignified manner.”

“It is a matter of deep regret that a communication marked confidential to Tata Sons board members has been made public in an unseemly and undignified manner,” said the statement.

“The correspondence makes unsubstantiated claims and malicious allegations, casting aspersions on the Tata group, the Tata Sons board and several Tata companies and some respected individuals. These will be responded to in an appropriate manner,” it added.

Rejecting the claims of Mistry that his authority was interfered with by Ratan Tata in several instances, Tata Sons said that he “was fully empowered to lead the group and its companies,” as the executive chairman. Though he was party to the decisions made in many capacities for over a decade, it is only after his removal that allegations and misrepresentation of facts are coming up.

Calling his removal as illegal, Mistry had said he was shocked beyond words in the manner in which he was removed.

In reply to Mistry, Tata said that the company diverted from the culture and ethos of the group during the tenure of the former chairman. The company will take appropriate action to prove the allegations raised by him was wrong.

Mistry lost the confidence of the company leading to his removal, said the statement.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Mistry had overwhelmingly lost the confidence of the Members of the Board of Directors for a combination of several factors. The Directors of the Tata Sons board had repeatedly raised queries and concerns on certain business issues, and Trustees of the Tata Trusts were increasingly getting concerned with the growing trust deficit with Mr. Mistry, but these were not being addressed.”

However, Tata made it clear that the company will disclose multitude of documents before appropriate forums to prove the claims made by Mistry are unwarranted.

In an unexpected move, Mistry was removed from the position of Chairman on Mondayafter serving the multinational conglomerate for four years. His position is taken over by former chairman Ratan Tata until a new chairman is nominated.