Wadia Group promoter Nusli Wadia, an independent director on the board of Tata Steel, tried to propose a resolution to back Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of the company but the move was opposed by three directors — former SBI chairman, O. P. Bhatt, Mallika Srinivasan and Andrew Robb.
‘No common view’“This means that the independent directors couldn’t arrive at a common view and no resolutions were passed to back Mr. Mistry,” said a source familiar with the development.
Tata Steel did not issue any report on independent directors, was was done in the case of Indian Hotels and Tata Chemicals.
Independent directors did not clarify to shareholders their stand on chairman Mr. Mistry, possibly due to divergent views among themselves.
Mr. Mistry was ousted as the chairman of Tata Sons last month and Rata Tata took over as the interim chief. O. P. Bhatt told The Hindu: “As an independent director, it would be unethical for me to disclose the details of board meeting.”
The opposing independent directors held a view that “whatever happened is in the past, the company should not pass any resolution that jeopardises the company’s and shareholders’ interests,” the source said. As of now, Mr. Mistry remains the chairman of the company as he has signed the audited results. Tata Sons, meanwhile, has asked Tata Steel to convene an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting of the company for considering and passing resolutions for the removal of Mr. Mistry and Mr. Wadia, as directors of the Company under Section 169 of the Companies Act.
Reports lossTata Steel reported a consolidated net loss of Rs.49.38 crore for the September quarter compared to a profit of Rs.5,609.43 crore in the same period a year ago. Sales were almost flat at Rs.27,392 crore. The second quarter of the last fiscal saw an exceptional gain of Rs.6,515 crore, according to a statement.
