TATA SONS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. SUNIL SHANTISARUP GUPTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Arguable questions are raised. Hence, Rule.

(2.) Prima facie, the plaint does not contain an averment that the plaintiffs are shareholders of either Tata Sons Limited (Public Limited Company) or Tata Sons Private Limited (Private Limited Company). During arguments, the learned Advocate for the plaintiffs states that they are not shareholders but beneficial owners of the Trust.

(3.) In paragraph 12 of the suit, the plaintiffs have averred that Tata Empire is not directly under the control of the public Trust and the Charity Commissioner has no jurisdiction over Tata Sons. It is undisputed that the provisions of the Companies Act 2013 regulate the companies which are the subject matter of the suit. It is also undisputed that the resolution dtd. 21/9/2017 was the subject matter of challenge before National Company Law Tribunal. National Company Law Tribunal has negatived the challenge at the instance of the shareholder. According to the applicant, the order dtd. 9/7/2018 has attained finality; however, that fact is not stated in the plaint. Though it is not stated in the plaint that the order has attained finality, there is no dispute among parties to the said litigation that the order has been confirmed by the Apex Court by judgment reported in (2021) 9 SCC 449 in an appeal against it. However, according to the plaintiffs, since the plaintiffs were not parties to the said proceedings, the provision of res judicata is not applicable.