Legal titans Harish Salve and C A Sundaram clash in Tata vs Mistry battle

Corporate lawyers said with such formidable legal teams fielded by both sides in the top Court, the fight between the two has become the most watched litigation war in recent times

The corporate war between Tata Group and the Mistry family has brought some of India’s leading and most expensive advocates face to face in the Supreme Court (SC).
 
Backed by India’s top legal firms, the Tatas have fielded senior advocates Harish Salve and Abhishek Manu Singhvi to argue on behalf of Tata Sons, while the Mistrys have fielded another veteran, C Aryama Sundaram on their behalf.
 
At stake is the exit of Mistry’s exit from Tata Sons which, according to the Mistrys, is valued at Rs 1.75 trillion. But the Tatas peg the value far lower, at up to Rs 80,000 crore for Mistry’s 18.4-per cent stake.

 

Corporate lawyers said with such formidable legal eagles fielded by both sides in the SC, the fight between the two has become the most watched legal war in recent times.
 
"The only such massive corporate battle which we can think of is the fight between the Ambani brothers in the SC over the KG-D6 gas field," said a senior lawyer in Mumbai. Reliance Industries (RIL) won the case in the SC.
 
Judging merit
 
Former Solicitor General of India, Harish Salve, 65, is son of late Congress politician from Nagpur, N K P Salve. He began his career in 1980 as an intern in JB Dadachandji & Co. after getting his law degree from Nagpur university.

 
Over the years, Salve fought some of the biggest corporate cases in India, including for RIL and for Vodafone Group plc in the British company’s fight against the Indian government in the tax dispute.
 
Since 2013, Salve joined the British Bar and later joined the local firm, Blackstone Chambers.
 
In 2017, Salve represented India in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case after a military court sentenced him to death. The ICJ has stayed Jadhav’s sentence till a final verdict is pronounced.
 
During the Tata versus Mistry hearing, Salve called Mistry’s offer to settle the issue by share swap on listed Tata companies as "nonsense".

 
C Aryama Sundaram, on the other hand, started his career in Chennai and subsequently moved to New Delhi and is one of the most sought-after senior advocates in India.
 
Sixty three-year-old Sundaram, who loves to play golf and collect art, has represented the Board of Cricket Control of India and is a veteran of several legal wars.
 
During the SC hearing, Sundaram said the fight between Ratan Tata, the patriarch of Tata Group, and his successor Cyrus Mistry erupted since Mistry was going to table a corporate governance document which proposed to regulate the Tata Trusts' say in Tata Sons, so that the two nominee directors of Tata Trusts do not decide everything about the group. The Trusts owns 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons and is chaired by Ratan Tata.

 
"The whole conduct by which the company was made a private limited company showed that minority was being sidelined,” he informed the court.
 
The hearing will continue on Monday.