Court stays proceedings against Cyrus Mistry in Rs 500-cr defamation case

A sessions court in Mumbai on Thursday stayed proceedings in a magistrate's court in connection with a Rs 500-crore defamation complaint filed by Tata Trusts' R Venkatramanan against ousted Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry and others.

The magistrate's court had issued a summons to Mistry last month after taking cognisance of the complaint. Mistry then filed an appeal in the sessions court.

"The process has been stayed as we argued that magistrate's order was bad in law," said Mistry's lawyer Aabad Ponda.

The next hearing before the sessions court would be on September 11.

Venkatramanan, managing trustee of Tata Trusts, has filed a criminal defamation complaint against Mistry for making 'false' statements, seeking compensation of Rs 500 crore.

An email sent by Mistry to the directors of Tata Sons and trustees of Tata Trusts contained "defamatory statements" against him, Venkatramanan said.

After he was ousted as the chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, 2016, Mistry, in an e-mail, alleged that fraudulent transactions worth Rs 22 crore had taken place at the group's aviation venture, AirAsia India, and accused Venkatramanan of having tried to cover it up.

The issue is now being probed by the Enforcement Directorate.

Venkatramanan said the email, which was leaked to the media, caused irreparable damage to his reputation.

His lawyer Parveez Menon said that they will contest the matter in the sessions court.