Nusli Wadia, ousted independent director of three Tata companies, has sued the company for Rs 3,000 crore in damages. He has included Ratan Tata, Tata Sons and its directors, in his defamation suit. However, ex-Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry was not named in the case filed in the Bombay High Court, reported The Times of India.
Wadia, who is the chairperson of the Wadia Group that owns Britannia Industries and Bombay Dyeing, has backed Mistry in his differences with the Tata group. Wadia was removed from his post at Tata Chemicals, Tata Motors and Tata Steel after the company accused him of galvanising the support of independent directors for Mistry’s chairmanship in group entities. Tata Sons had held that Mistry should no longer hold his posts at other group entities since he had been removed from his post as the chairman at Tata Sons.
On November 10, Wadia, along with other independent directors of Tata Chemicals, had said in a statement that he had full confidence in Mistry’s chairmanship. He was removed from his posts soon after the statement. After his removal, he had written a letter to the group’s shareholders saying, “Allegations levelled against me by Tata Sons that I have been acting in concert with Cyrus Mistry are totally false and baseless.”
In his suit, Wadia has said that the company’s steps against him were hasty and vindictive. He said asked the company to pay him Rs 3,000 crore for the damages caused by Tata Sons’ allegations. He said the public accusations had left shareholders of his company prejudiced, and tarnished his reputation in general.
On November 21, Wadia had served a defamation notice to the conglomerate, asking the group to either withdraw its “defamatory special notice” or prove the accusations within two days of receipt of the letter. As an alternative, he had suggested that the board appoint an independent retired judge to study the allegations, which if proven wrong would have him continue as independent director. In his letter, Wadia said neither demand had been heeded.
Mistry was ousted as chairman of Tata Sons on October 24. The Tata Group has accused Mistry of being responsible for its dwindling revenue. The group will hold an extra-ordinary meeting on December 21 to decide on Wadia’s ouster.
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