Mistry hits back at 'smear' plaint

Mumbai: A day after Air Asia’s R Venkataramanan denied wrongdoing and alleged smear campaign by the former chairman of Tata Sons for being named as an accused in the alleged wrong doing by the airline, Cyrus Mistry said that the former was intimately involved in the affairs of the joint venture with AirAsia Berhad right from its inception.

Stating that Mr Venkataramanan had many roles including that of executive assistant to Ratan Tata as well as that of a shareholder with a 1.5 per cent stake in the company, Mr Mistry said, “Therefore, his weak excuse that he was only a non-executive director without any responsibility is totally without any merit. This ridiculous attempt to question the independence of the CBI and to cloak his alleged misadventures by using my name is treated with the contempt it deserves. His alleged actions, which are today under investigation, raise grave public concerns over his credibility and ability to be the custodian of India’s largest public charitable trust”.

Mr Mistry also raised concern regarding the decline in governance standard in the 150-year-old group and has called for stringent action against officials bringing disrepute to the brand.

“It is therefore deeply disturbing that a few individuals with alleged questionable motives are today bringing disrepute to the Tata Brand. The group and its employees deserve better,” he said.