Cyrus will go down as lame duck of Bombay House: Mehli Mistry

MUMBAI:In his first detailed interaction with the media, Mehli Mistry, the 56-year-old promoter of M Pallonji and Co, countered the charges against him in the petition filed at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) by the investment firms of ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry. “Enough of fiction, these are the facts,” Mehli said. ET was the first newspaper to profile Mehli and his proximity to Ratan Tata, in its edition dated November 21. In that profile, Mehli denied that he had any role to play in Cyrus’ removal.
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The NCLT petition seeks the forum’s intervention to appoint an independent auditor to conduct a forensic audit of all contracts of Mehli Mistry and his firms with Tata Power, the firm which generates and distributes electricity in Mumbai.

People close to Cyrus believe that Mehli wields a lot of influence over Ratan Tata. Mehli rubbishes these accusations, saying while the friendship can’t be disputed, Ratan Tata is not someone who can be influenced. And on the charge of lack of corporate governance at the Tatas, Mehli said: “Corporate governance has a new meaning. It kicks in only after dismissal.”

“Cyrus’ father (Pallonji Mistry) was known as the Phantom of Bombay House (the Tata Group headquarters), but his son will go down in history as the self-confessed ‘lame duck’ of Bombay House,” said Mehli, a reference to Cyrus’ email to the Tata Sons board in which he said that he had been reduced to a “lame duck chairman”.