Of boardroom battles and beyond

As the Tatas rejoice over NCLT Mumbai dismissing the appeal of Cyrus Mis try over his removal as Tata Sons chairman, the development put the spotlight back on long-drawn high-decibel boardroom battles that India Inc has witnessed.

Am bani versus Am ba ni After the death of Dhirubhai Ambani—the founder of RIL, in July 2002, there was speculation all was not well between his sons, Mukesh and Anil.

Rumours about wrangling between the Ambani brothers flew thick and fast till it was confirmed by Mukesh, who admitted to a television channel in November 2004 that there were “ownership issues”. What followed was a bitter exchange of allegations and counter allegations that culminated with the brothers reaching a settlement in June 2005 to split the group assets.

Infosysco-founders vsBoard Infosys was at the centre of a controversy last February when co-founders N RN a ray ana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani and Kris Gopalakrishna flagged what they said were corporate governance lapses, referring, referring to the hefty pay hike to the then CEO Vishal Sikka and large severance package to former CFO Rajiv Bansal and general counsel David Kennedy, as well as doubts over Panaya acquisition. Finally, in August last year, Sikka abruptly resigned.

YESBank: KapoorvsKapur About a year after co-founder Ashok Kapur was killed in the Mumbai terror attack, rift began to appear between his family and Rana Kapoor, the other co-founder, over appointment of director on the company’s board. In 2013, Madhu Kapur and her family moved the Bombay High Court against Rana Kapoor. A protracted legal battle followed and in June 2015, the court ruled in her favour.