Aaj Ki ‘Tata’ Khabar: Mistry’s Explosive Letter

Round-up of everything that happened in the Tata-Mistry fiasco on Wednesday.

27 Oct 2016, 12:14 AM IST

Commuters walk past a newspaper stall outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

If Tuesday was all about Ratan Tata and his meeting at the Bombay House, Wednesday belonged to Cyrus Mistry who was back at the Tata Group headquarters, two days after he was removed from the post of Tata Sons chairman.

Mistry was at Bombay House for two hours and slipped out of a back entrance around 4 pm, only to walk into the next building, Mulla House, to meet one of his counsels, Janak Dwarkadas.

A Google map image of where Bombay House and Mulla House is located

Things turned a bit rowdy when he eventually emerged from Mulla House, with the waiting media contingent trying their best to get a reaction from Mistry, who has refused to speak to media up until now.

But that doesn’t mean that the former Tata Sons chairman has been silent. Mistry sent a scathing email, 24 hours after his dismissal, to the Tata Sons board.

Expressing His Shock

Mistry began the letter by expressing his shock at the manner in which he was removed from his position on Monday.

Aaj Ki ‘Tata’ Khabar: Mistry’s Explosive Letter

Also Read: I Cannot Believe That I Was Removed On Grounds Of Non-Performance: Cyrus Mistry

A ‘Lame Duck’

Mistry, who took the top job after what he described as ‘much reluctance,’ said that he was pushed into being a ‘lame duck’ chairman.

Also Read: Cyrus Mistry Says He Was “Pushed Into The Position Of A Lame Duck Chairman”

This was because of the modifications made to the Articles of Association of Tata Sons, which curtailed the power of the chairman.

Also Read: Five Amendments That Made Cyrus Mistry A ‘Lame Duck Chairman’

The Alleged Fraud In Air Asia India

In his letter, Mistry explained how despite his strong pushback, he wasn't able to stop the Tata Group from foraying into the aviation business.

Mistry alleged that a recent forensic investigation revealed fraudulent transactions worth Rs 22 crore involving non existing parties in India and Singapore.

The Nano Conundrum

The letter also shed light on how Mistry wanted to scrap the Tata Nano project, which according to him "had no line of sight to profitability" and at its peak lost Rs 10 billion. He went on to add that the Nano was kept alive only for emotional reasons.

The former chairman blamed his predecessor for problems at Indian Hotels, which runs the Taj chain of hotels.