How do you see the latest Supreme Court order striking down Mistry appointment as chairman of Tata Sons? Are we back to square one?

On Friday, the Honourable Supreme Court stayed the order by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) regarding the reinstatement of Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman of Tata Sons and also simultaneously declaring the appointment of Chandrasekharan as illegal. The Supreme Court ruled that the NCLAT direction to reinstate Mistry was untenable in law. It may be recollected that the order to reinstate Mistry was passed by the NCLAT on December 18 and subsequently Tata Sons had appealed to the Supreme Court against the order as being incongruent with corporate democracy.

It may be recollected that Mistry was removed as chairman of Tata Sons on 24 October 2016. He was later ousted as a director from the holding company’s board, and then removed from several operating companies in the group. This virtually restores status quo on the situation.