Mumbai: Ousted Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry has said that allegations that he mishandled the DoCoMo issue were “baseless” because Ratan Tata was kept informed and approved of the course of action at all times.
All decisions were taken collectively and with the unanimous approval of the Tata Sons board, the statement said. It said that Mistry had always wanted the Tata group to honour all legal commitments to DoCoMo.
According to Mistry, he requested DoCoMo to join the Tatas in seeking the approval of the Reserve Bank of India. Since RBI approval was not forthcoming, DoCoMo initiated arbitration and the award was favourable to them. When DoCoMo sought enforcement in the Delhi High Court, Tata deposited over Rs. 8,000 crores in court in good faith, the statement said.
Stating that a number of discussions on the DoCoMo situation had been held in the Tata Sons board, the statement added: "Mistry had always mentioned that the Tatas should honour all commitments within the law. This stance is based on Tata Sons' board view and was always consistent with the series of board meetings in which the DoCoMo issue was discussed."
Reiterating that the agreement with DoCoMo had been executed before Mistry became executive chairman of the Tata Group, the statement said: "All decisions were taken with the unanimous approval of the Tata Sons board. In fact, all decisions were collective decisions and the actions were consistent with every such collective decision."
But the Indian group offered Rs 23.34 a share in line with RBI guidelines that states that an international firm can only exit its investment at a valuation "not exceeding that arrived at on the basis of return on equity".
The Japanese firm then dragged the Tatas to international arbitration where it won a USD 1.17 billion award.
The statement by Mistry's office further said the Tatas under his leadership requested DoCoMo to join them in seeking approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which the estranged Japanese partner didn't agree.
"Nevertheless, the Tatas applied to RBI for approval. Since RBI approval was not forthcoming, DoCoMo initiated arbitration. The award was passed in favour of DoCoMo and against the Tatas," it added.
Tatas did not challenge the award in the UK. On the contrary, RBI was approached once again by the Tatas for permission to pay the amount awarded. RBI again refused permission, the statement said.
"When DoCoMo sought enforcement of the award in the Delhi High Court, in order to show their bonafides, Tatas deposited a sum in excess of Rs 8,000 crore in court," it added.
Insisting that Tata and NA Soonawala, Trustee, were kept informed throughout the process, the statement said they even participated in separate meetings held with Mistry.
"They also participated in the meeting with the legal counsel (who also happened to be a trustee of the Dorabji Tata trust) and who represented Tatas in the litigation. At all times, Ratan Tata and Soonawala concurred and approved the course of action adopted by the Tatas and as advised by legal counsel," it said.
"In light of the above facts, to suggest that Mr Mistry acted on his own, or contrary to 'Tata values', or without the knowledge and/or concurrence of Ratan Tata and Soonawala is as false as it is mischievous," the statement by his office added.
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