Cyrus Mistry was today removed as director of Tata Industries following shareholders' vote, the first such instance of the embattled executive being ousted from the board since his removal as Tata Group chairman.
Mistry also ceases to be the chairman of the company following his removal as director, Tata Industries said.
"Tata Industries, at its extraordinary general meeting on December 12, 2016, removed Cyrus P Mistry, as a director of the company. Hence, he also has ceased to be the chairman of the company," it said.
Mistry was abruptly ousted as chairman of Tata Sons -- the holding company of the USD 103 billion salt-to-software conglomerate -- on October 24. Since then, interim Chairman Ratan Tata has moved to consolidate his position by seeking to remove Mistry from boards of key listed firms.
EGMs of listed companies, which have been called to consider Tata Sons' proposal to remove Mistry as director from their boards, are lined up throughout the month.
The board of Tata Industries, post the EGM, comprises, KRS Jamwal, R Bhinge, Ireena Vittal, Ashish Dhawan, N Srinath, and F N Subedar.
Tata Industries is a subsidiary of Tata Sons. Several Tata companies, including Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Steel, hold equity in the company.
Tata Industries' main activities are to promote Tatas' entry into new businesses and invest in operating companies to facilitate growth.
Chandrasekaran has been heading the Tata group's 'crown
jewel', software firm TCS, since 2009. He was appointed as a Director on the board of Tata Sons on October 25, 2016, a day after Mistry's removal.
The search panel was given four months to find the new head of the promoter company of the major operating firms of the USD 103 billion salt-to-software conglomerate, but the decision has been reached even before that.
Chandrasekaran's appointment as Tata Sons Chairman comes at a time when the company is fighting a legal battle at the National Company Law Tribunal with Mistry, who has challenged his ouster.
Yesterday, Mistry family-owned two investment firms had filed a contempt application at NCLT against move by Tata Sons to remove him as director and sought an order to restrain the company from going ahead with its planned EGM on February 6 called to remove him.
In one of the biggest board room battles in history of India Inc, Tata Sons board had removed Mistry as Chairman citing loss of faith in his leadership and for the good of the future of the group, while his predecessor Ratan Tata was brought back as an interim Chairman.
Mistry, on the other hand, had alleged that Tata and other trustees of the Tata Trusts ran alternate power centre and he was reduced to a "lame duck Chairman".
Chandrasekaran had joined TCS in 1987 after completing Masters in Computer Applications from Regional Engineering College, Trichy, Tamil Nadu.
Under his leadership, TCS generated consolidated revenues of USD 16.5 billion in 2015-16. The company remains the most valuable company in India as of 2015-16 with a market capitalisation of over USD 70 billion.
An avid photographer, he is also a passionate long-distance runner and completed several marathons around the world, including Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Berlin, Mumbai, New York, Prague, Stockholm, Salzburg and Tokyo.
