Tata Sons defends Chandrasekaran’s reappointment, cites legal advice
This response followed objections from Tata Trusts, which argued the decision was illegal due to voting discrepancies among its trustees.
Tata Sons has defended its decision to reappoint N. Chandrasekaran as chairman for another five years, citing legal advice in a letter to Tata Trusts chair Noel Tata. The letter, dated September 24 and signed by group company secretary Suprakash Mukhopadhyay, stated that the decision followed relevant laws and company rules. Before the board meeting on September 17, Tata Sons sought legal opinions from Sudipto Sarkar, former Chief Justice of India U.U.
Lalit, and former Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna. The board unanimously resolved to reappoint Chandrasekaran, despite opposition from Tata Trusts, which questioned the legality of the reappointment. The board faced a tie, with Tata Trusts nominees Noel and Venu Srinivasan voting against the reappointment, while Harish Manwani cast the deciding vote in favor.
Tata Sons explained that an independent director's decision to break the tie was based on legal advice from the three respected legal experts. Tata Trusts disagrees, stating that under Article 121 of Tata Sons' rules, only a majority vote of Trustees can approve a chairman's reappointment. The letter also included 11-page and 8-page legal opinions from Justice Lalit and Srikrishna, respectively.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
