Managing trustee of Tata Trusts, R Venkataraman has filed a criminal defamation suit against former Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry for allegedly making false statements, seeking £50 million in damages. The suit comes a couple of days before the hearing of the case between Mistry and Tata Sons at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. In the complaint filed with the additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Venkat said that Mistry's October 25, 2016 email to Tata Sons directors and trustees of Tata Trusts contained “defamatory statements” about him.
A shareholder and director of AirAsia India, he also said that the email, which was subsequently leaked to the media, has caused “irreparable” damages to his reputation among his colleagues, family, friends, and society. Mistry had alleged “certain fraudulent transactions of £2.2 million” involving non-existent parties in India and Singapore at AirAsia India, stating that Venkat had considered these transactions as “non-material” and “didn't encourage any further study” of it.
Venkat said that Mistry's allegations were “false, malicious, and derogatory” in the filings with the company tribunal in Mumbai. Mistry's filings had stated that Venkat had asked Tata Capital to offer loans to C Sivasankaran, which had turned bad. The complaint, filed through MZM Legal, is listed for hearing on July 3.
