An apex corporate tribunal on Monday dismissed a plea filed by Cyrus Mistry's investment companies to waive off a regulatory bar on them, so that they can continue their legal suit against the Tata Sons.
Besides, the main company petition which was filed against Tata Sons was also rejected.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) here dismissed the plea filed by Mistry's investment companies -- Cyrus Investment and Sterling Investment Corp -- the order on which will be released on Friday, April 21.
Under the current rules, only a shareholder with more than 10 per cent effective shareholding can file a minority interest petition with the NCLT.
However, the Companies Act empowers the NCLT to waive off this requirement for a petitioner to hold at least 10 per cent of the total issued share capital of the company to qualify for filing a minority interest petition.
On March 6, the NCLT had ruled against the maintainability of the petition filed against Tata Sons, which cited governance lapses and compromise of minority shareholder interests after Mistry was ousted as Chairman of the holding company of the industrial conglomerate.
On October 24 last year, Tata Sons' Board ousted Mistry as its Chairman and appointed Ratan Tata as Interim Chairman.
On their part, Tata Sons welcomed the ruling by the NCLT which dismissed the waiver application and the company petition.
"We are pleased that Mr. Mistry's claims have been dismissed by the NCLT. The order of the NCLT represents a vindication of our position," said F.N. Subedar, Chief Operating Officer of Tata Sons.
"We hope this brings to an end a vexatious campaign against the Company, the Tata Trusts and Mr. Ratan N. Tata. Tata Sons will continue its focus on its future development under the stewardship of our Executive Chairman, Mr. N. Chandrasekaran."
Tata Sons elaborated that it interprets the ruling by the NCLT to be demonstrating that the petitioners failed to make a convincing or compelling case that warranted a hearing on alleged mismanagement, oppression or other actions.
According to the holding company of the industrial conglomerate, the NCLT's ruling on Monday is the fifth such ruling by the company law tribunals rejecting reliefs requested by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group companies and Mistry.
"Mr. Mistry has made many ill-advised and groundless allegations intended to besmirch the name of the Tata Group," said Subedar.
"Today's ruling by the NCLT makes clear that there is no case to be heard. Over the past six months, Mr. Mistry has failed demonstrably to build a case. We trust that the NCLT's decision brings this matter to a close," Subedar added.
Mistry's firms are expected to move the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against NCLT decision taken on Monday.
--IANS
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