National Company Law Tribunal dismisses Cyrus Mistry's contempt petition against Tata Sons

MUMBAI: The National Company Law Tribunal ( NCLT) dismissed the contempt plea filed by Cyrus Mistry's family firms against the Tata Sons but gave the former chairman an option to file an affidavit within the next 3 days on the contested shareholder meeting coming up next month.

The two member bench said the matter will be heard along with the original petition by Cyrus Investments Pvt. Ltd and Sterling Investments Pvt. Ltd, which is scheduled for Jan 31 as the subsequent development was not part of the original petition.

The quasi-judicial body said Tata Sons can file a reply to Mistry's affidavit within three days of his filing, and Mistry can file a rejoinder thereof.

Last week Mistry filed a contempt of court petition at NCLT, saying the Tata Sons have violated its directives by initiating procedure to remove him from Tata Sons board.

Mistry, the scion of the Pallonji Mistry family, is Tata Sons' largest individual shareholder along with brother Shapoor Mistry. They together own 18.4 per cent of Tata Sons equity.

He first moved to NCLT in December against Tata Sons board, its directors including interim chairman Ratan Tata, two of the Tata Trusts and its trustees for “oppressing” minority shareholders and “mismanagement”.