Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran was notably absent from the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on June 19, marking his second consecutive absence from the key shareholder meeting of the group.
TCS’ Company Secretary Yashaswin Sheth informed shareholders that Chairman Chandrasekaran could not attend the meeting due to “some exigencies”.
This was followed by his non-participation in the Tata Consumer Products AGM on June 18, reportedly due to his focus on the tragic crash of group company Air India’s plane from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick last week. The crash claimed the lives of at least 270 people, including 241 passengers and crew of the aircraft.
In his absence, non-executive director PB Balaji had presided over the Tata Consumer meeting. According to regulations, another director is permitted to lead the meeting when the board chairman is unavailable. The TCS AGM, in Chandrasekaran’s absence, was chaired by independent director Keki Mistry.
The Air India crash has cast a sombre shadow over the year’s AGM season for the Tata Group. Meanwhile, Tata Motors’ AGM is scheduled for today (June 20).
In other news around TCS, per a report by Business Standard, the IT major clarified at its AGM that the company is not under investigation in relation to the recent cyber breach at one of its largest retail clients, Marks & Spencer. “The purview of investigation does not include TCS,” said Keki Mistry, addressing the shareholders.
In response to a shareholder’s question about the breach at Marks & Spencer, Keki Mistry said, “This incident is currently under review and investigation by the customer. As no TCS customer or system was compromised, none of our other customers were impacted.”