The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday restored former Tata group chairman Cyrus Mistry as Executive Chairman of the Tata group. The appellate tribunal also held the appointment of N. Chandra as the group’s executive chairman illegal.
Mistry was appointed Chairman of Tata Sons in 2012 after Ratan Tata’s retirement. He was, however, ousted from the position in 2016. In his plea before the NCLAT, Mistry contended that his axing did not comply with the Companies Act 2013. He further submitted that the company’s conversion into a private company was a fraud on him, oppressive and was legally impermissible.
Declaring the change from Public to Private Company illegal, the bench led by Justice SJ Mukhopadhyay has also reinstated Tata Sons to its original position as a Public Company.
While restoring Mistry, the NCLAT has given the Tata Group 4 weeks time to go in appeal. The restoration order would only be operational after the end of four weeks.
Earlier on July 9, the NCLT had dismissed Mistry’s petition challenging his removal. It had ruled that the Board of Tata Sons was competent to remove him. Mistry then approached NCLAT against this order of NCLT.
— India Legal Bureau