Winning Bizness Desk

Mumbai. In a tragic accident, former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry died in a road accident on Sunday. 54-year-old corporate stalwart Mistry had reached Udvada, holy place of religion in Gujarat and was returning to Mumbai, when his car collided with the divider in the middle of the way. The accident was so terrible that the front part of the Mercedes blew up. Three more people from the Parsi community were present with Mistry, one of whom died on the spot, while two others are hospitalised and battling for their life. Cyrus Mistry's body has been handed over to his family after postmortem. Some relatives of Cyrus Mistry also live abroad, so Mistry's last rites was performed on Tuesday.

Last rites performed at Worli Crematorium

Mistry's last rites were performed at Mumbai's Worli Crematorium with Parsi culture. At the occasion, Akash Ambani, Supriya Sule, Ronnie Screwvala and Anil Ambani and many other prominent figures were present at the cremator. After Cyrus Mistry's tragic death, Anand Mahindra has pledged to wear seatbelts in the rear seat.

Over speeding kills one Indian every six minutes

Meanwhile, a preliminary probe into the deaths of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and a co-passenger has revealed that not “wearing seat belts, over-speeding and error of judgment” resulted in the fatal car crash in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on Sunday. Preliminary findings say that the SUV could have been travelling at 130-140 kmph when the accident took place. An analysis of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data shows that speeding kills one Indian every six minutes and injures one every two minutes. As per the data, 87,050 people, including 11,190 women and girls, were killed and 2,28,274 injured in India in speeding-related incidents last year.

Who will helm Shapoorji Pallonji Group?

Cyrus Mistry’s tragic accident that resulted in his death comes close in heels with that of his father, Pallonji Mistry and the back-to-back losses have put the spotlight on the future of the 157-year-old multi-billion dollar Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Cyrus was the youngest scion of the SP Group. Cyrus’ father Pallonji Mistry, who died on June 28, 2022, at the age of 93, is dubbed as ‘the Phantom of Bombay House’. According to the Bloomberg billionaires index, the SP Group has a net worth of about $30 billion in 2022.

Mistry removed as chairman of Tata Sons

In a boardroom coup in 2016, Mistry was removed as chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the $300bn salt-to-software Tata conglomerate, sparking a long, drawn-out legal tussle in which India's top court eventually ruled in Tata Group's favour. The Tata Group removed Mistry citing a growing “trust deficit” with the biggest shareholder. In December 2016, two firms owned by Cyrus Mistry's family filed a case of oppression and mismanagement against Tata Sons and 20 others, including Ratan Tata.