Setback for Mistry in battle with Tatas as NCLT rejects waiver plea

However, Mistry firms can challenge the dismissal in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday has dismissed the waiver application filed by Cyrus Mistry’s family on eligibility criteria of 10 per cent shareholding, required under the Companies Act for moving the petition against Tata Sons.

Since the NCLT benches refused to grant waiver, the company petition filed by Mistry's firms for alleged mismanagement and oppression of minority shareholders has been automatically dismissed.

The NCLT said the detailed order copy would be made available on Friday. Though, Mistry firms could challenge the dismissal in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

Mistry firms has sought waiver from Tribunal after its March 7 order, where it had said that Mistry’s companies had failed to satisfy it on the minimum 10 per cent shareholding eligibility criteria under the Companies Act.

"...and hence, these petitions are not maintainable,” division bench of B S V Prakash Kumar (member-judicial) and V Nallasenapathy (member-technical) had said.

Mistry’s firms pleaded that under the Act, the NCLT could waive the requirement that a petitioner hold at least a tenth of the issued share capital of the company or represent at least one-tenth of the minority shareholders.

Tata Sons argued that if preference capital also considered, the two petitioner firms hold only 2.17 per cent of the issued share capital.