Court stays proceedings against Cyrus Mistry in defamation suit

A Mumbai sessions court has stayed proceedings in a magistrate’s court in connection with a Rs 500-crore defamation suit filed by R Venkatramanan, managing trustee of Tata Trusts, against former Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry and others.

While admitting the revision petition, the court stayed the lower court from proceeding further in the matter. The next hearing for the case is on September 11.

Aabad Ponda, counsel for Mistry, argued that Venkataramanan had deliberately suppressed the fact that the National Company Appellate Law Tribunal (NCLAT) had, by way of its order dated May 4, admitted the appeal filed by minority shareholders of Tata Sons, which had alleged oppression and mismanagement at primary holding company of Tata Group. He argued that Venkataramanan suppressed the fact that the matter was sub-judice.

However, Zulfiquar Memon, managing partner at MZM Legal that is representing Venkataramanan, said that this was not relief to Mistry. Filing of a revision application was expected and the court, by procedure, stays the matter till it is disposed off. “We have just been served a copy and we will examine the contents of the same, file an appropriate reply and vigorously contest this revision application,” said Memon.

Venkataraman had sought Rs 500 crore in damages in his criminal defamation suit against Mistry for allegedly making false statements.

The suit, which came days ahead of the hearing of the case between Mistry and Tata Sons at the NCLAT on July 3, had been filed against all the directors of Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investment run by Mistry’s family.

In his complaint filed with the additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Venkataramanan had said that Mistry’s email to Tata Sons directors and trustees of Tata Trusts on October 25, 2016, contained “defamatory statements” about him. Mistry had then said that he was not intimidated by the case filed Venkataramanan.