Cyrus Mistry says his removal as Tata Group chairman was 'unprecedented'; speculations rife about more exits

In an email sent to board members, Mistry says he "was not given a chance to defend" himself.

Cyrus Mistry Tata Group — Cyrus Mistry, chairman of Tata Group, smiles during the Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) annual general meeting in Mumbai June 27, 2014.Reuters File

Cyrus Mistry, who was ousted as the Chairman of the Tata Group on Monday, sent an email to the company's board members to say he was "shocked" by the manner in which he was removed from the post. The 48-year-old claims that he "was not given a chance to defend" himself even as there are reports of his appointees being removed.

Mistry has defined the removal as an "unprecedented" move in India. However, his office has said that he is not considering a legal move at this point in time.

As a preventive action, the Tata Group on Tuesday filed caveats against the ex-chairman of India's biggest corporate house so that he does not get into any ex-parte order by the courts against his ouster. The caveats have reportedly been filed in the Supreme Court, the Bombay High Court and the National Company Law Tribunal.

"A caveat is a notice filed by a party fearing legal action seeking notice before action. Tatas have filed caveats seeking notice from Cyrus Mistry fearing legal action. Cyrus has not filed any caveats," his office said in a statement.

On Monday, Tata Sons had said that chairman Cyrus Mistry was replaced by doyen Ratan Tata as the interim head of the holding company. The sudden decision to replace Mistry has taken India Inc by surprise.

In what can be considered as a possible explanation to Mistry's ouster, Harish Salve, a long-time legal advisor to Ratan Tata (whose family founded the group) told NDTV that Mistry's decision to sell the company's assets, including its steel interests in the United Kingdom had "not gone down well" with the board of members and this was seen as damaging the company's reputation.

On the other hand, Ratan Tata, who has replaced Mistry as the interim chairman of Tata Sons, after a period of four years, asked Group CEOs and Managing Directors to focus on the group's work.

There is a speculation that Indian Hotels' MD & CEO Rakesh Sharma, who was appointed in 2014, is likely to exit.