Ousted Tata boss continues fight against ‘ethical issues’

The former Chairman of Indian industrial giant, Tata Sons, is continuing his fight against what he claims were serious issues with the group’s ethics and governance, one month after he was dramatically sacked by the company’s board. Cyrus Mistry was the first boss of the Tata conglomerate who was not connected to its founding family, and just its sixth in almost 150 years, however he was sacked after less than four years in the job. At the time of his dismissal Mistry published a letter to the board that criticised the firm’s culture and ethics. This is despite the Indian company’s longstanding reputation as a beacon of good corporate governance. In a 2011 interview with GCR, Tata Coffee’s then-Managing Director, Hameed Huq, said the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) was ingrained in its culture. “In any of the Tata businesses, you have to live the CSR. It is the underpinning foundation for a very large labour force and the communities that we need to look after,” Huq said at the time. Mistry, however, appears to disagree. The ousted Chairman’s latest actions are, he says, being pursued in order to protect the interests of minority shareholders and bond holders of Tata group companies.