Cyrus Mistry, former Tata Sons chairman, was killed in a road accident on Sunday after his car hit a divider in Maharashtra's Palghar district near Mumbai. He was 54. The accident took place around 3.15 pm when Mistry was travelling to Mumbai from Ahmedabad.
Here are the top facts on what we know about the tragic incident so far
- Mistry was travelling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai in a Mercedes car. A Kasa police station officer said the accident occurred at Charoti Naka on the Surya river bridge under the Kasa police station limits.
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Mistry, 54, and a man identified as Jahangir Pandole were killed when his luxury car hit a road divider, while eminent gynaecologist, Anahita Pandole (55), and her husband Darius Pandole (60) survived the crash. Jahangir is the brother of Darius, a former independent director of the Tata Group of companies who had opposed Cyrus Mistry's removal as the chairman.
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According to initial information, the Mercedes Benz car, with Anahita Pandole at the wheel, was overspeeding and tried to overtake another vehicle from the wrong side, a police official told PTI.
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Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, has asked police to conduct a detailed investigation. The car that he was travelling in hit the divider near a Charoti on a bridge.
- Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed his condolences and said, "Deeply shocked to hear about the death of Cyrus Misri. Cyrus was seen not only as a successful businessman but also as a young and future-looking personality of the industry."
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Cyrus' death has come as a second big blow to the influential family within a few months as his father Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, also called the 'Phantom of Bombay House for the subtle but substantial influence he wielded at the Tata Group headquarters, had died in June.
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"The untimely demise of Shri Cyrus Mistry is shocking. He was a promising business leader who believed in India’s economic prowess," Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet while offering condolences to his family and friends.
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Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, the second person outside the Tata family to occupy the top position in the group, condoled the death of Mistry, a man who, he said, had a passion for life.
Mistry's feud with the Tatas
Low-profile to the extent of being called reclusive, the then 44-year-old Mistry was reluctant to take up the challenging job of the Tata Sons chairman but agreed after some persuasion, including by Ratan Tata himself.
To some, it was an audacious move to appoint a relatively young person to head a big corporation like the Tatas.
However, only after four years at the helm, Mistry was replaced in a boardroom coup in October 2016, which saw Ratan Tata come back to helm the group before the reins were passed on to N Chandrasekhar.
Even the might of Pallonji Mistry could not save his chair at the Bombay House after Mistry Jr. launched a wide-ranging drive to improve governance practices at the group.
The feud turned bitter, with the once demure Mistry turning dauntless and dragging the storied corporate grouping to courts to get the reasons for his exit. Mistry claimed his work was appreciated a few months before and wanted to know the reasons that led to the sudden removal from the chairman's post.
Since the exit, the Mistry family, which is the single-largest shareholder of Tata Sons with over 18 per cent holding, has often been at loggerheads and has offered to offload its entire stake leading to speculations over the valuation of the group.
Mistry returned to his reclusive self in the years after a high-decibel campaign he launched in the immediate aftermath of his exit. Clarity on what exactly led the conscientious Tata Group to expel Mistry barely four years into his tenure remained elusive till his untimely death in the Sunday car crash.
(with PTI inputs)
ALSO READ | Cyrus Mistry, former Tata Sons chairman, killed in road accident near Mumbai
