Rahul Gandhi says Tata being ‘criminally destroyed’; Nirmala Sitharaman hits back, says ‘refrain from seeing ghosts’
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (October 28) alleged that the Tata Group was being “criminally destroyed” and questioned the silence of India's business leaders.
Gandhi's remarks come amid a dispute over Tata Sons' leadership, after Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata challenged the validity of the September 17 board resolution reappointing N Chandrasekaran as chairman of the Tata Group's holding company.
In a post on social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi accused the government of treating Indian businesses as a political “plaything” and urged business leaders to speak out.
“Tata is being criminally destroyed, and no business leader dares say a word. How long will you stay silent? Until they own you? Indian business is not Modi and Shah's plaything. You lack courage. We don't. We will ensure justice for these crimes,” Rahul Gandhi wrote.
Rahul Gandhi's remarks come against the backdrop of Noel Tata's objections to the process through which N Chandrasekaran's reappointment was approved.
In a letter dated October 26 to Suprakash Mukhopadhyay, Company Secretary and Group Corporate Secretary of Tata Sons, Noel Tata challenged the September 17 board resolution, alleging procedural irregularities and questioning its validity.
Noel Tata said the agenda circulated to directors before the meeting did not specifically mention Chandrasekaran's reappointment. He also alleged that no Selection Committee had been constituted under Article 118 of Tata Sons' Articles of Association and that no recommendation from such a committee had been placed before the board.
He further contended that the affirmative vote of directors appointed under Article 104B, as required under Articles 118 and 121, had not been obtained. According to his letter, the resolution had also been put to a vote subject to conditions that had not been fulfilled.
“The resolution is void,” Noel Tata stated in the letter.
He also objected to Tata Sons treating the resolution as final while the board meeting records remained contested.
“The recording is the only neutral record of what transpired,” he wrote, seeking the complete audio and video recordings of the September 17 meeting and any transcript of the proceedings.
Noel Tata alleged that the company had not provided him with the recordings, final minutes or a certified copy of the resolution despite repeated requests. He also questioned the reported filing of the resolution with the Registrar of Companies before the minutes had been finalised.
He has sought the meeting recordings, final or revised minutes, voting details, the formal notice, different versions of the agenda and documents filed with the Registrar of Companies and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Noel Tata has also requested that Tata Sons inform the Registrar in writing that the resolution's validity is disputed and that no further steps be taken until the record of the meeting is settled.
The objections remain allegations raised by Noel Tata. The dispute centres on the procedures followed in approving Chandrasekaran's reappointment and the validity of the board resolution.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Congress leader should refrain from politicising every issue and describing commercial and legal matters as criminal.
“Being the LoP @RahulGandhi, I suggest you refrain from politicising every issue. Also, casually labelling commercial and legal matters as criminal is unacceptable,” the Finance Minister wrote on X.
She also questioned whether Gandhi was attempting to encourage business leaders to join him in spreading what she described as “distrust and toxicity”.
Sitharaman accused the Congress of suppressing entrepreneurship during its time in power, invoking the “Licence-Quota Raj” to criticise the party's economic legacy.
“For decades, your party had smothered the spirit of the Indian entrepreneurs under the stifling ‘Licence-Quota Raj’ & inflicted poverty on crores of Indians,” she said.
Defending the Modi government's approach, Sitharaman said the Centre viewed Indian businesses as job creators and drivers of economic growth. She added that its policies were designed to enable enterprise, support industry and encourage investment.
The Finance Minister also said political parties, leaders, governments and institutions shared a responsibility to support industry, strengthen farmers and secure the future of young people.
Urging Gandhi to engage constructively, she accused him of making “baseless aspersions” to serve what she called his “narrow political motives”.
Sitharaman also referred to the Constitution and the judiciary, saying that courts were entrusted with upholding justice for citizens.
“The Constitution of India ensures justice to all its citizens & our Honourable Courts are entrusted with upholding it,” she wrote.
She further accused Gandhi, the Congress and former prime ministers from the party of having demeaned the judiciary.
“So Rahul ji, refrain from seeing ghosts everywhere,” she added.
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