Mistry trying to take control of IHCL with support of Independent directors

MUMBAI: After being removed from the chairmanship of Tata Sons by its majority shareholder Tata Trusts and expressed lack of confidence on October 24, Mistry is trying to gain control of Indian Hotels Company Ltd, which runs the Taj Hotel chain, with the support of independent directors of the board.

Seven independent directors including veteran banker Deepak Parekh and former HUL chairman Keki B Dadi Seth, have expressed confidence in the leadership of Mistry in its board meet on November 4.

Tata sons in a statement to media said Mistry had cleverly ensured over the past three years that he would be the only Tata Sons representative on IHCL board in order to frustrate Tata Sons ability to exercise influence and control the hotel chain.

Also read: Tata Sons issues 9-page letter bomb against Cyrus Mistry

‘’In the hind sight the trust reposed by Tata Sons in Mistry by appointing him as te chairman four years ago has been betrayed by his desire to control main operating companies of the Tata group to the exclusion of Tata Sons and other representatives.’’ Indeed this strategy of being the only Tata Sons representative on the boards of operating companies seems to have been a clever strategy planned and systematically achieved over the past four years.

It is unfortunate that Tata Sons acting in good faith did not anticipate such devious moves by Mistry and thereby did not inform the other directors of the operating companies about its dissatisfaction with Mistry at the level of Tata Sons.