The Supreme Court on Thursday sought response from R Venkataramanan, a former managing trustee of Tata Trusts, on an appeal of Shapoorji Pallonji Group challenging the quashing of its defamation case against him.
"This is nothing but a corporate war," a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta said, while issuing notice to Venkataramanan.
Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for Shapoorji Pallonji Group, said that the defamation complaint filed by the firm was quashed by the Bombay High Court erroneously.
The Bombay High Court had quashed a prosecution order issued by a magistrate court against Venkataramanan in the defamation case.
In October 2018, the magistrate's court at Ballard Pier had issued the process of summoning Venkataramanan after the Shapoorji Pallonji Group filed the criminal defamation case against him.
In the complaint, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which owns 18.6-per cent stake in the Tata Group, had alleged that Venkataramanan had made some comments in a press note which were false and defamatory to the group.