Setback for the Tatas

NCLAT judgment raises several questions

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT’s) decision to reinstate Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons and term illegal the appointment of N Chandrasekaran as his successor will undoubtedly cause ripples of uncertainty through the Tata empire and the broader corporate sector. The move to take Tata Sons private has also been declared illegal and reversed. Though the decision will be implemented after four weeks, giving time to the Tata group to contest it, the charges are serious: Oppression of minority shareholders (the Shapoorji Pallonji group is one of them), mismanagement at Tata Sons and undue haste in removal