Lawyer who defended Tatas against Mistry quits

Mumbai: Four years after he was appointed the general counsel of Tata Sons, Shuva Mandal (44) is stepping down to pursue private practice. Mandal’s exit follows his recent win for Tata Sons against the company’s former chairman Cyrus Mistry in a corporate governance case in the Supreme Court.
Mandal was brought in by Tata Sons from law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas specifically to develop a legal strategy against Mistry, who was removed from the top post after a fallout with patriarch Ratan Tata. A product of National Law School-Bengaluru, Mandal replaced 17-year Tata Sons veteran Bharat Vasani in 2017, becoming one of the youngest general counsel in corporate India.
“He feels he will have more opportunity for career progression and better remuneration in private practice,” said a person with whom Mandal shared his plans. Mandal didn’t respond to an email from TOI, while Tata Sons declined to comment on the report. Mandal also represents Tata Sons’s interests on the boards of direct-to-home company Tata Sky, and AirAsia (India), which runs the budget carrier. Both the companies are in the midst of a change — Tata Sky is exploring exit options for partner Walt Disney, and AirAsia (India) is evaluating a financial bid for Air India.
Under chairman N Chandrasekaran, Mandal will be the third exit from the Tata Sons management team after Shane Fitzsimons (who used to be the group synergy officer) and S Jaishankar (former corporate affairs head).
After Fitzsimons and Jaishankar quit, their portfolios were assigned to Aarthi Subramanian (group chief digital officer) and Banmali Agrawala (head of infrastructure, defence and aerospace). But for the post of general counsel, Tata Sons will have to put on its hiring hat and look for a candidate to replace Mandal.