Tatas Move SC Against NCLAT’s Cyrus Mistry Order

Tata Sons has moved the Supreme Court against re-appointment of Cyrus Mistry as company's chairman.

The company has challenged the complete order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment passed on December 18, 2019, and sought a stay on it in the wake of TCS board meeting scheduled to be held on January 9.

Tata's lawyers will seek urgent hearing on the matter after Supreme Court reopens on January 6, though the petition is yet to be listed.

The Tata Sons filed the appeal against the NCLAT order on various grounds including that the NCLAT has given no reason on how Cyrus Mistry's removal was illegal and wrong.

The Tata Sons appeal has argued that the NCLAT order restoring Mistry as chairman has undermined corporate democracy and the rights of board members, besides setting a dangerous legal precedent.

The appeal has contended that the NCLAT's relief to Cyrus Mistry is inconsistent with annals of corporate law and that it has created confusion in the working of important listed corporate entities.

The appeal has also pointed out that Cyrus Mistry himself had specifically pleaded before the NCLT that he is not seeking reinstatement.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the NCLAT has adjourned a Registrar of Companies' (RoC) plea seeking modifications in the NCLAT judgment which reinstated Mistry as executive chairman of Tata Sons until January 3, 2020.

In its plea, the RoC, which functions under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), has also sought to be impleaded as a party in the two petitions and deletion of the words “illegal” and “with the help of the RoC” used by the NCLAT in its 172-page-long judgment.

A two-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya has asked the MCA to submit details of the definition of private and public companies under the Companies Act.

The NCLAT bench has also asked for clarification on the paid up capital requirement for the same.