The fight between ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and interim chairman Ratan Tata has gone legal. Sticking to his statement issued on Monday evening that he would take legal recourse to secure the interests of the Tata Group and regain lost ethical ground, Mistry on Tuesday filed a case in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against Tata Sons alleging oppression of minority shareholders, sources said. The petition has been filed under Sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act.

The first hearing by NCLT on the petition is slated for December 22.

Reacting to the development, a Tata Sons statement said, “This afternoon Tata Sons Limited was served with a petition under Sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act before the National Company Law Tribunal. We understand that the petition has been filed by investment companies of Mr Cyrus Mistry. Tata Sons is in consultation with its lawyers and will contest the allegations therein. Tata Sons reiterates that it has followed the highest standards of corporate governance in its operations and views the petition as an unfortunate outcome of the situation arising from Mr Mistry’s complete disregard of the ethos of the Tata Group and Jamsetji Tata. Despite, Mr Mistry’s recent assertions that it is not a personal issue, it is evident that it always has been for him a personal issue which reflects his deep animosity towards Mr Ratan N Tata.”

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The statement added that Mistry was Tata Sons chairman for almost four years and “it is surprising that he is now making allegations on activities of Tata Sons after doing little to address them, in his tenure both as a director (since 2006) and a chairman since 2012”. It reiterated that Mistry’s removal as chairman of Tata Sons was approved by an overwhelming majority of directors and it is unfortunate he has not been able to graciously accept the decision of the very same board that appointed him.

Earlier, speaking to a business news channel, Mohan Parasaran, a counsel for the Tata Group, said there is no question about oppression of minority interest and that Mistry must be prepared for a long battle in court. On Mistry’s resignation from the group companies, Parasaran told the channel that there is no intention to remove him yet. “With the case in court, credentials of Shapoorji Pallonji too will be questioned now.” Tata Sons may now explore the option of buying out Shapoorji Pallonji’s stake in the group, he added.

While resigning from the boards of the Tata group firms on Monday, Mistry had launched a scathing attack against Ratan Tata and vowed to shift his fight to a larger platform. “We will have to see. Nobody can give assurance but we will fight legally to make sure it happens,” Mistry had told FE when asked if approaching the judiciary to restore sound corporate governance practices is a viable strategy.

“In order to be more effective, serve the objective of governance reform, and to regain lost ethical ground, I have decided to shift from the forum of the EGMs to a larger platform and also one where the rule of law and equity is upheld,” Mistry had said on Monday.

With Mistry’s resignation from the boards of listed Tata firms, the extraordinary general meeting convened of IHCL on Tuesday to remove him from the board was a tame affair with no voting taking place. However, the action shifts from Wednesday till Friday when the EGMs of Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Chemicals will be held, respectively, and though Mistry has stepped down from their boards, the shareholders will consider the removal of Nusli Wadia, who’s an independent director on their boards.