Tata trustee Venkat sues Cyrus Mistry for Rs 500 crore

R Venkataramanan, managing trustee of Tata Trusts, has filed a criminal defamation suit against former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry for allegedly making false statements and has sought Rs 500 crore in damages. 

The suit, which comes days ahead of the hearing of the case between Mistry and Tata Sons at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on July 3, has been filed against all the directors of Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investment run by Mistry's family.

In his complaint filed with the additional chief metropolitan magistrate here, Venkat has said that Mistry's October 25, 2016 email to Tata Sons directors and trustees of Tata Trusts contained “defamatory statements“ about him. 

Mistry had alleged about “certain fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore“ involving non-existent parties in India and Singapore at AirAsia India and had stated that Venkat considered these transactions as “non-material“ and “didn't encourage any further study“ of it. Venkat is a shareholder and director of AirAsia India. 

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