Why Cyrus Mistry, Tatas dominated news headlines in 2016

Former Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry (L) seen with Tata Sons interim chairman Ratan Tata (R). Image Source: Reuters

Tata Sons announced surprise removal of its former chairman Cyrus Mistry from the company's board in October this year leading to other Tata Group companies following its footsteps to expel him from their board rooms, that kept Mistry and Tatas in the news in 2016.

Here's the timeline of the whole event:

October 24
Tata Sons announced sudden removal of Cyrus Mistry as the company's chairman and brought back Ratan Tata as its interim chairman.

October 25
Cyrus Mistry, within 24-hours after he was replaced as chairman of Tata Sons, issued a letter via e-mail to members of the Tata Sons board and to trustees of the Tata Trusts expressing his sudden removal as shock adding further that he was not given an autonomy to take decisions as the chairman of the company.

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October 27
Tata Sons in a response to Cyrus Mistry's letter said in a statement, " The Tata Sons board gives its Chairman complete autonomy to manage opportunities and challenges. However, the tenure of former Chairman was marked by repeated departures from the culture and ethos of the group."

November 1
Tata Sons' interim chairman Ratan Tata, in a separate letter to Tata employees, said the decision on sudden removal of Mistry was difficult one, made after careful and thoughtful deliberation and was absolutely necessary for the future success of the Tata Group.

November 10
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced removal of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of the board of directors with an immediate effect and appointed Ishaat Hussain as the new chairman of the company.
Besides, only board members of two firms of Tata Group-Tata Chemicals and Indian Hotels Co- reposed faith in Mistry's leadership as the chairman of their respective companies.

November 25
Tata Steel removed Cyrus Mistry as chairman of board of directors of the company with an immediate effect and replaced him by an independent director O P Bhatt as the new chairman till the outcome of the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the company.

ALSO READ: Tata Industries removes Cyrus Mistry as director; no more chairman

December 5
Cyrus Mistry wrote a 14-page letter to shareholders of Tata Sons and urged shareholders to have their voice heard and be a part of defining the future of Tata Group. He further said the Governance Reform is must at the level of Tata Sons and Tata Trusts in order to protect the long-term interests of Tata Group and its stakeholders.

December 12
Tata Industries, a subsidiary of Tata Sons, removed Cyrus Mistry as the director and chairman of the company, according to PTI report.

December 14
Tata Teleservices announced removal of Cyrus Mistry as director and chairman of the company with an immediate effect.

December 19
Cyrus Mistry wrote a three-page letter to all shareholders and announced to resign from the boards of all listed Tata Group companies whereby hinting at plans to continue his battle against Tata Sons in the court.

December 20
Cyrus Mistry’s family-controlled investment firms moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against Tata Sons and filed petition against oppression and mismanagement of Tata Sons under Section 241 of Companies Act, PTI reported.

December 21
Tata Sons spokesperson reacted to Cyrus Mistry’s allegations of weak corporate governance and called it amalgam of half-truths and untruths, according to PTI news report.
Tata Steel in its EGM voted to remove industrialist Nusli Wadia who backed Cyrus Mistry, as director from the company’s board, according to filing to BSE.

December 22
Tata Sons issued a statement stating that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) did not grant any interim relief to Cyrus Mistry's petition and directed parties to file replies and rejoinders in a fixed time table in January, 2017.
Tata Motors shareholders in its EGM voted to remove Nusli Wadia as director of the company.

December 23
Majority shareholders of Tata Chemicals during their extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) voted to remove Nusli Wadia as director of the company and appointed Bhaskar Bhat and S Padmanabhan as directors of the company, according to Tata Chemicals filing to BSE.

December 27 Tata Sons filed a legal notice against Cyrus Mistry, accusing the former chairman of the Tata conglomerate of breaching confidentiality rules, according to a letter from Tata Sons' law firm seen by Reuters.

ALSO READ: Four Tata firms to vote on Cyrus Mistry's removal as director this week