In a confidential email to Tata Sons board members Cyrus Mistry has leveled a series of allegations against Ratan Tata and contended that he was pushed in to a position of "lame duck" chairman.
» Mistry warned that a realistic assessment of the fair value of the company's 'legacy hotspots' could result in a write down of about $18 billion.
» He alleged that it was Tata who forced the Group to foray into the aviation sector by making him a 'fait accompli' to joining hands with Air Asia and Singapore Airlines.
» Mistry said, "recent forensic investigation revealed fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore involving non-existent parties in India and Singapore."
» He pointed out that two directors, who voted for his removal, only recently lauded and commended his performance.
» He said that the group's hospitality arm IHCL had acquired the Searock property at a highly inflated price and housed in an off-balance sheet structure.
» Lashing out at the original structure of the Docomo transaction, he said that it "raises several questions about its appropriateness from a commercial or prudential perspective within the then prevailing Indian legal framework".
» Turning to Ratan Tata's pet project Nano, Mistry said the concept called for a car below Rs 1 lakh but the costs were always above this and it "consistently lost money, peaking at Rs 1,000 crore."
» Stock exchanges BSE and NSE have asked for clarification from six listed Tata companies following Mistry's letter.
» Market regulator SEBI has also taken a note of Mistry's allegations and will look into any possible breach of rules and regulations.
» Tata Sons have not responded to Mistry's charges.