Cyrus P. Mistry

Mumbai, (IANS) : Contrary to the claims of Tata Sons, the operations of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) were not on auto-pilot but were overseen by Cyrus Mistry, the ousted Chairman’s office said on Tuesday.

For the first time, Mistry, without naming any individual, said it was ego that had caused the Tata Group to suffer a huge unnecessary premia on the purchase of Corus Steel.

“The Tata Sons statement of 10th November 2016 insinuated that Cyrus Mistry had made no ‘material contributions’ to the success of TCS and JLR, which the statement implied were a manifestation of Ratan Tata’s personal vision and efforts,” the five-page statement from Mistry’s office said.

“Ideally, a leader must not need to quote such data in defence. Yet, it is important to set the record straight since insinuations and leaks are being made explicitly to create an illusion that Mistry was a ‘hands off’ Chairman and TCS/JLR were on ‘auto-pilot’ during his leadership.”

“While Tata Sons, under the leadership of Ratan Tata, is busy apportioning credit and blame for the performance of operating companies, Mistry wishes to place on record his appreciation for the hard work done by the leadership teams of those companies, who in Tata’s opinion have shown less than stellar performance — the ‘hotspots’,” the statement said.