Air India crisis: Chandra skips Tata Consumer AGM

MUMBAI: Tata Consumer Products chairman N Chandrasekaran skipped the company's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday due to exigencies. Non-executive director P B Balaji presided over the meeting in his stead.

Regulations permit another director to lead the meeting when the board chairman is unavailable.Chandrasekaran's absence was due to his focus on Air India matters following the crash of London-bound flight 171 in Ahmedabad last week, which resulted in over 270 fatalities.At the meeting, company secretary Delnaz Dara Harda said, "The chairman of the board, N Chandrasekaran, will not be able to attend the AGM due to some exigencies." Tata Consumer initiated the annual general meeting sequence among major Tata Group companies, with TCS scheduled for Thursday and Tata Motors for Friday.

It remains to be seen whether Chandrasekaran, who is also the chairman of both these companies, will chair the AGMs.According to a lawyer, if the chairman is not present within 15 minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, or if he is unwilling to act as chairman of the meeting, the directors present can elect a chairman among themselves.Chandrasekaran has been in Gurugram-Delhi, engaging with Air India personnel, holding discussions with civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu and aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha; and addressing various airline-related matters. His office also sought time with DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai. During the AGM, Balaji, who is also the CFO of Tata Motors, acknowledged the challenging period for the Tata group.