Nusli Wadia Hits Back At Tatas, Alleges Insider Trading

Mumbai: A day before the first Extraordinary General Meeting of TCS, business tycoon Nusli Wadia launched an attack on Tata Sons for moving notices seeking his removal as an Independent Director of three Tata companies Tata Motors, Tata Chemicals and Tata Steel.  

Mr Wadia said he was being targetted for his "independence of mind and action" and the allegations against him were false and baseless. The 15-page letter also alleged that the group had been involved in insider trading.

"I believe that Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Noshir Soonawala and the Board of Tata Sons even post notification of the insider trading regulations (January 25, 2015) sought access to information and documents of Tata Steel, Tata Motors and other Tata companies," the letter read.

Mr Wadi has alleged that a British peer, Lord Kumar Bhattacharya, considered a close adviser to Ratan Tata, influenced Mr Tata to buy the steel firm Corus, and then prevented the Tatas from exiting their UK steel business despite mounting losses. This, Mr Wadia said, are violations of corporate norms, since Lord Kumar has no formal role in Tata Steel.

The move for the ouster of Mr Wadia, an independent director on the boards of several Tata companies, came after he had backed Mr Mistry --- who was sacked as director of Tata Industries today -- as chairman of Tata Chemicals. The Group has called for the removal of both Mr Mistry and Mr Wadia from its boards by getting shareholders to vote for their removal .

Reacting to the allegation that he was acting against the interest of the group, he said he did not "serve the Tata group in any capacity" and was "not required to act in their interest".  "I have a fiduciary responsibility to act as an Independent director in the best interest of the companies on whose board I serve, no more or less."

The letter further alleged that his "independent stand has aggravated Tata Sons" and his removal was being sought as he "chose not to follow their diktat".

Mr Wadia, the chief of the Wadia group, has been a director of Tata Motors since 1998. His association with Ratan Tata goes back many years. Mr Tata had served on the board of Bombay Dyeing, the flagship company of the Wadia group, for 33 years before stepping down in 2013.

In his letter today, Mr Wadia, who has filed a legal notice for defamation against the Tata Sons, claimed this was "the first time in the history of corporate India that a promoter is using his muscle power with false and vindictive allegations to remove an Independent director".

"Although it is my removal that you are being asked to vote upon, the real 'person' on trial is the institution of the independent director itself and not me," he wrote.