Cyrus Mistry defends independent directors

Ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry on Sunday lashed out at the Tatas for qu estioning the independence of independent directors who have come out in his support. In a two-page statement, Mistry pointed out that of the nine directors on the board of Indian Hotels and Tata Chemicals, six were appointed during Ratan Tata's tenure as chairman of Tata Sons.

He added that two of the nine directors were trustees of Sir Ratan Tata Trust, a large shareholder of Tata Sons. Sir Ratan Tata Trust is headed by Ratan Tata.

"To question the independence of the directors...is truly unfortunate given that the country acknowledges them as stalwarts.   Intraday Trading Tips

" wrote Mistry. To suggest that `ulterior objectives' and `clever strategy' can sway these eminent names in undertaking their fiduciary duties...is absolutely astonishing and really speaks to how low Tata Sons has unfortunately stooped in their public statements," he added.   Commodity Trading Tips



All the independent direc tors at Indian Hotels, better known as the Taj Group, and Tata Chemicals had backed Mistry's leadership. The nine directors are Deepak Parekh, Keki Dadiseth, Nadir Godrej, Nasser Munjee, Nusli Wadia, Yashwant Thorat, Gautam Banerjee, Ireena Vittal and Vibha Paul Rishi. The first six were appointed during Ratan Tata's tenure. Dadiseth and Munjee are trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust.   Nifty Trading Tips



Reacting to Mistry's statement, Tata Sons said it was "important for boards, including independent directors, to consider that their views and positions ensure that the future of Tata companies is protected, taking into consideration the interest of all stakeholders."     Future & Option Trading Tips



Last Friday , Tata Sons directed Tata Chemicals to call an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to remove Wadia from its board. Wadia is the longest serving independent director of Tata Chemicals, and has been on the board since 1981. He has been a close friend of Ratan Tata's for decades. But he broke with Tata and led the independent directors.   Financial Astrology