Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 4: The chairman of the Tata Sons group Cyrus Pallonji Mistry was on Sunday killed in a road accident after his car hit a divider in Maharashtra’s Palghar district neighbouring Mumbai, a police official said.
Mistry was travelling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai in a Mercedes car, he said.
The 54-year old Cyrus Mistry, who succeeded Ratan Tata as chairman of the Tata Sons but was later ousted in India’s most high-profile boardroom coup, was survived by his wife Rohiqa and their two sons.
Pictures from the accident site showed the mangled remains of the silver Mercedes car. The accident happened when the car hit the road divider at Charoti area of Palghar, 135 km from Mumbai.
“The accident took place around 3.15 pm, when Mistry was travelling to Mumbai from Ahmedabad. The accident took place on a bridge over the Surya river. It seems an accident,” said Palghar district superintendent of police, Balasaheb Patil. A Kasa police station officer said the accident occurred at Charoti Naka on the Surya river bridge under the Kasa police station limits.
The body of Mistry has been shifted to the Kasa Rural Hospital for post-mortem. Along with Mistry, Jehangir Pandole, Anahita Pandole and Darius Pandole were present in the car. Jehangir Pandole, father of Darius Pandole, who was an independent director in Tata group firms and had opposed the removal of Mistry as the company’s chairman, is the other person who died in the accident. Darius Pandole had also left the Tata group with Mistry. Darius is Anahita’s husband who was driving the car, the police said.
Mistry, who was the sixth chairman of Tata Sons, was ousted from the position in October 2016. He had taken over as the chairman in December 2012 after Ratan Tata announced his retirement.
This is the latest blow for the Mistry family whose patriarch, Pallonji Mistry – Cyrus’s father – died in June at the age of 93. Their empire built luxury hotels, stadiums, palaces and factories across Asia, but was most recently known for a corporate feud with the Tata Group.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in mourning the loss of the business tycoon, calling it a “big loss” to the world of commerce and industry. The PM said Mr Mistry was a promising business leader who believed in India’s economic prowess. “The untimely demise of Shri Cyrus Mistry is shocking. He was a promising business leader who believed in India’s economic prowess. His passing away is a big loss to the world of commerce and industry. Condolences to his family and friends. May his soul rest in peace,” Modi’s tweet read.
Condoling Mistry’s death, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal said Indian industry had lost a shining star and that his contributions to the country’s economic progress will always be remembered “Deeply anguished & shocked by the sudden passing away of Cyrus Mistry. Indian industry has lost one of its shining stars whose contributions to India’s economic progress will always be remembered,” Goyal wrote in a tweet. “My heartfelt condolences to his family & friends.” Union Minister for Women Development Smriti Irani said Mistry “epitomised kindness.”
N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons who succeeded Mistry, condoled the business leader’s “untimely demise.” “I am deeply saddened by the sudden and untimely demise of Mr Cyrus Mistry. He had a passion for life and it is really tragic that he passed away at such a young age. My deepest condolences and prayers for his family in these difficult times,” Chandrasekaran said in a statement.
Veteran leader and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar called Mistry a “dynamic and brilliant entrepreneur.” “Deeply saddened to hear about the shocking news of the untimely demise of the former Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry. He was a dynamic and brilliant entrepreneur. We lost one of the brightest star of Corporate World,” said Pawar.
Lok Sabha MP and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule also tweeted saying, “Devastating News My Brother Cyrus Mistry passed away. Can’t believe it. Rest in Peace Cyrus.”
RPG Enterprises Chairman Harsh Goenka remembered Mistry as “a friend, gentleman, a man of substance.” Industrialist Anand Mahindra said it was “hard to digest” the news of Mistry’s death. “I got to know Cyrus well during his all-too-brief tenure as the head of the House of Tata. I was convinced he was destined for greatness. If life had other plans for him, so be it, but life itself should not have been snatched away from him. Om Shanti,” said Mahindra.
“Gone too soon”, tweeted Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi.
