Tata Sons wants Nusli Wadia out from company boards, wants EGM to be convened

A bitter corporate war that has embroiled the Tata group after its chairman Cyrus Mistry was unceremoniously sacked has now taken an unexpected turn. The boardroom war has reached such a proportion that many reports on Friday said that Tata Sons has sought an extraordinary general meeting seeking the ouster of Nusli Wadia. [caption id=“attachment_1577377” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nusli Wadia. Agencies[/caption] “Tata Sons has alleged that Wadia, the godson of JRD Tata and was for years considered a close friend of Ratan Tata, was working in tandem with Mistry."— a report in The Economic Times said. Wadia is a director on the boards of three Tata entities — Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals. According to a piece on The Mint, “Wadia, among other independent directors of Tata Chemicals Ltd backed Mistry as chairman of the board.” Tata Sons has already informed the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange about the forthcoming EGM. The company letter to the bourses reads thus: “In accordance with Regulation 30(1) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, we would like to inform you that the Company has received a Requisition and a Special Notice dated November 10, 2016 under Sections 100(2)(a) and 115 of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Rules thereunder (’the Act’) from Tata Sons Limited - the Company’s promoter and shareholder representing 26.51% of the Company’s voting capital, for convening an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company for considering and passing Resolutions for the removal of Mr Cyrus P Mistry and Mr Nusli N Wadia, Directors of the Company under Section 169 of the said Act.” The Mint in the piece already referred to above said that with each passing day the divisions that are present at the top level in the Tata conglomerate is more openly coming out in the public. “The move indicates that Tata-Mistry spat has entered a new divisive phase drawing clear lines between those who support Ratan N .Tata and those backing Cyrus P. Mistry in the 18- day old battle, which has been marked by allegations and accusations."— The Mint said. Wadia is the chairman of the Wadia Group that owns Bombay Dyeing, GoAir and Britannia Industries Ltd among others.