Cyrus Mistry, former Chairman of Tata Sons on Thursday questioned degradation of Tata brand due to the AirAsia India case. While refuting all allegations made by R Venkataramanan, who held various posts in the Tata group besides owing a stake in AirAsia India, Mr Mistry, says, "The Board of Tata Sons and the Tata Trustees need to concern themselves over the decline in governance standards at AirAsia India that this shameful case reveals. The Group and its employees deserve better. The actions or lack thereof that the Board of Tata Sons and the Tata Trustees may take, will define their commitment to upholding the value system enshrined by the Group’s Founders."
According to Mr Mistry, 'a few individuals with alleged questionable motives' are bringing disrepute to the Tata Brand. "It is well documented that Mr Venkataramanan was intimately involved in the affairs of AirAsia India right from its inception. He has had many roles including that of Executive Assistant to Mr Ratan Tata at the time of the formation of the Company, Tata Sons’ nominee on the Board, as well as that of a shareholder with a 1.5% stake in the company. Therefore, his weak excuse that he was only a non-executive director without any responsibility is totally without any merit," the former Chairman of Tata Sons said in a statement.
During a Board meeting on 24 October 2016, Mr Mistry, had planned to expose the fraudulent transactions by tabling the explosive findings of a forensic audit done by Deloitte on AirAsia in board meeting of Tata Sons.
But he was sacked. The Tata group has never revealed the reason. Interestingly, one day before his removal, Mr Venkataramanan had instructed the then Group legal counsel to not file an FIR against the former CEO of AirAsia India in an email as per the documents submitted by Mistry Firms at National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
On Wednesday, Mr Venkataramanan, in a statement alleged that he was wrongly named as an accused by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on operational matters where he claimed to have no role to play in AirAsia India. "...the accusations were rooted from ‘baseless allegations’ made by former Tata Group chairman Cyrus P Mistry and the Shapoorji Pallonji Group against Tata Trusts Trustees and Tata Sons in his legal actions against the group after being ousted from it," he alleged.
Mr Mistry, however, have questioned attempts to malign CBI, which had registered a first information report against top executives of AirAsia. Mr Mistry says, "This ridiculous attempt to question the independence of the CBI and to cloak his (Mr Venkataramanan’s) alleged misadventures by using my name is treated with the contempt it deserves. His alleged actions, which are today under investigation, raise grave public concerns over his credibility and ability to be the custodian of India’s largest public charitable trust."
"The Shapoorji Pallonji Group has been proud of its relationship over 50 years with the House of Tata, and we are all equally proud of the historical work done by the Tata Trusts. Mr Venkataramanan, as the Managing Trustee of the Tata Trusts, should know better than to drag the name of such a remarkable institution into an investigation by the CBI over his alleged personal integrity and alleged corrupt business dealings," Mr Mistry added.
According to the FIR, Mr Venkataramanan was involved in lobbying with stakeholders in the Indian Government to secure mandatory approvals, some of them through non-transparent means, including the then Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FlPB) clearance, no objection certificate (NOC) and the attempt for removal or modification of the 5/20 rule. The 5/20 rule required an airline to have a minimum of five years of flying and 20 aircraft to apply for international licenses.
Here is the statement issued by Mr Cyrus Mistry...
I am reminded me of Opium running.