Shareholders at Tata Steel on Thursday voted to remove independent director Nusli Wadia from his post with immediate effect. The company submitted a statement to the stock exchanges announcing his removal following a six-hour long extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday.
At total of 82.5% of the shareholding institutions voted to remove him, and 84.5% of retail investors cast votes against him. He now faces a similar test with shareholders of Tata Motors Ltd and Tata Chemicals Ltd, Mint reported. Asked if he was happy with the results, Tata Trusts chairperson Ratan Tata said, “Yes, I am.”
Tata Sons own a 31% stake in Tata Steel. On December 17, the Bombay High Court had ruled that the Tata Group must not fill posts that were occupied by Wadia in three of its companies even if he was voted out.
The decision to remove Wadia, and ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry, from the boards of the three companies was made on November 11, following a Tata Chemicals’ board meeting, at which Wadia and a few other independent directors supported Mistry as the chairman of the board. However, Wadia said Tata Sons had ousted him from companies under the group for his independence of “mind and action”. “Allegations levelled against me by Tata Sons that I have been acting in concert with Cyrus Mistry are totally false and baseless,” he had said. Mistry was ousted as chairman of Tata Sons on October 24.
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