The corporate war between the Tata group and billionaire Mistry family has brought some of India’s leading and most expensive advocates face to face in the Supreme Court.
Backed by top legal firms of India, the Tatas have fielded senior advocate, Harish Salve and Abhishek Manu Singhvi to argue on behalf of Tata Sons, while the Mistrys have fielded another veteran, CA Sundaram. At stake is the exit of Mistry’s exit from Tata Sons which, as per the Mistrys, is valued at Rs 1.75 trillion. But the Tatas peg the value far lower at up to Rs 80,000 crore for Mistry’s 18.4 per cent stake.
Corporate lawyers said with such formidable legal teams fielded by both sides in the Supreme Court, the fight between the two has become the most watched litigation war in recent times. "The only such massive corporate battle which we can think of is the fight between the Ambani brothers in the Supreme Court over the KG-D6 gas,’’ said a senior lawyer in Mumbai. RIL won the case in the SC.
The who’s who of India
Former Solicitor General of India, Harish Salve, 65, and son of late Congress politician from Nagpur N K P Salve, began his career in 1980 as an intern in J B Dadachandji & Co after getting his law degree from Nagpur university.
Over the years, Salve fought some of the biggest corporate cases in India, including for Reliance Industries and for Vodafone PLC in the British company’s tussle with the Indian government in the tax dispute. In 2013, Salve joined the British bar and later joined the local firm, Blackstone Chambers.
In 2017, Salve, who loves Apple products, represented India in the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case after a military court sentenced him to death. The ICJ has stayed Jadhav’s sentence till a final verdict is pronounced.
During the Tata vs Mistry hearing, Salve called Mistry’s offer to settle the issue by share swap on listed Tata companies as ‘nonsense’.
C Aryama Sundaram, on the other hand, started his career in Chennai and subsequently moved to New Delhi and is one of the most sought after senior advocates in India. Sundaram, who loves to play golf and collecting art, has represented Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) and is a veteran of several legal wars.
During the Supreme Court hearing, Sundaram said the fight between Ratan Tata, the patriarch of Tata group and his successor Cyrus Mistry erupted as Mistry was going to table a corporate governance document which proposed to regulate the Tata Trusts' say in Tata Sons so that two nominee directors of Tata Trusts don't decide everything about the group. The trusts own 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons and is chaired by Ratan Tata.
"The whole conduct by which the company was made a private limited company showed that minority was being sidelined,” he informed the court.
The hearing will continue on Monday.
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