Tatas now file court caveats against legal action by Cyrus Mistry

MUMBAI: Less than 24 hours after the Tata Sons board “replaced“ Cyrus Mistry as chairman, interim chairman Ratan Tata, Tata Sons and Tata Trusts rushed to the Bombay and Delhi high courts and the

National Company Law Tribunal

(NCLT) to file caveats against any legal action Mistry might initiate.

The Tata Trusts, of which Ratan Tata is lifetime chairman, controls 66% in Tata Sons and were the moving force behind the removal of Mistry, whose father Pallonji holds 18.5%.

Mistry's office issued a statement saying, “A caveat is a notice filed by a party fearing legal action seeking notice before action. Tatas have filed caveats seeking notice from Cyrus Mistry fearing legal action. Cyrus has not filed any caveats. He has already made a statement that such concerns are misplaced at this stage.“

Earlier in the day, his office had said that “while the circumstances are being studied, there is no basis to media speculation about litigation at this stage“. The caveat by Tata Sons was filed through advocate Ameya Gokhale, partner, SAM and is numbered 1477 of 2016. Earlier in the day , his office had said that “while the circumstances are being studied, there is no basis to me studied, there is no basis to media speculation about litigation at this stage“. The caveat by Tata Sons was filed through advocate Ameya Gokhale, partner, SAM and is numbered 1477 of 2016. Late evening, though, there were fresh reports that Mistry might approach the NCLT against his dismissal, but there was no confirmation till the time of going to press.

In anticipation of a legal war, the Tatas are said to have lined up a heavy-duty team of lawyers, including Harish Salve, P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Ravi Kadam -even as a legal advisor to the Tatas told TOI “all moral and legal steps“ had been complied with in the decision to replace Mistry. Leading law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) is reliably learnt to be advising Team Tata.

Mistry's legal team is learned to include Apurva Diwanji, partner of Desai & Diwanji, as an advisor, and Janak Dwarkadas as senior counsel.

The Central government constituted the NCLT with effect from June 2016 under the new Companies Act as a specialised institution for corporate justice. It replaced the existing Company Law Board (CLB) and is meant to speed up resolution of disputes. A caveat is a legal notice to a court to ensure that the notifier is given a hearing in any proposed proceedings against it before any orders are passed.

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