Mistry admits ouster from TCS foregone outcome, says fight is to save Tata Group's soul

Cyrus Mistry, the ousted chairman of Tata Sons, has appealed to minority shareholders of Tata Consultancy Services to vote with a conscience as the future India's largest IT services firm hinges on ''good governance and ethical practices" . Mistry also said he is fighting to save the soul of the Tata Group.

Mistry is certain that Tata Sons, which owns over 73 per cent stake in TCS, would score over any dissent to remove him from the company's board in the extraordinary general meeting of TCS called on Tuesday. In his letter to shareholders, he says the "fight is a matter of principle rather than facing the foregone outcome.

"The very future of TCS hinges on good governance and ethical practices. That can flow only from the promoter and needs to permeate into the Board and Management. In the past several weeks, we have seen good governance being thrown to the wind in every sense of the term, replaced by whims, fancies and personal agenda," Mistry wrote in his letter.

" We have witnessed an unmatched erosion of ethical values and the very foundation of the institution being put to grave risk by the conduct of a few."

Mistry, who was ousted by Ratan Tata as chairman of Tata Sons, on October 24 has been involved in a high pitch battle against the Tata scion. The TCS EGM is also the first of the seven companies that have called for shareholders to decide the ouster of Mistry from their respective boards.

"What I am fighting for is to save the soul of the Tata Group. Whatever be the decibel level of the voice that would drown your vote, I call on you to vote with your conscience and send a signal that catalyses a larger discussion on governance reform, to save the very fabric of what we have all inherited -- the Tata Values that our Founders handed us," Mistry said.

TATA Consultancy Services ( TCS )