When Ratan Tata was caught between a CM and militants

On a Tuesday in October 1997, the south Mumbai residence of lawyer Ram Jethmalani buzzed with frantic activity. His son, Mahesh Jethmalani, a prominent city lawyer, had just arrived. Joining him were middle-aged Arun Jaitley, one of the country’s most accomplished advocates at the time, and Delhi-based solicitor Rian Karanjiawala. Also, present was the “crisis junkie” Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing.
Tagging along with Nusli Wadia was none other than his childhood friend, Ratan Tata, the man at the helm of India’s biggest industrial empire, stuck in a crisis.
In essence, it was the Tata crisis management group in full session.
In the late 1990s, Assam was gripped by ugly and violent militancy, with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) being one of the main and feared separatist militant groups. In western Assam, Bodoland-based militant groups were active too.
Assam saw a spate of kidnappings and killings by Ulfa militants. This was a time of terror, especially for businessmen, in Assam. Ulfa was extorting protection money from all businesses, be it grocery shops or tea gardens. The police were unable to protect the people, but ready to harass anyone who paid money to the militants.
It was during these turbulent times that Ratan Tata, the then chairman of the Tata Group, found himself at the centre of a contentious and complex crisis. Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had accused Tata Tea, the largest tea company operating in the state, of colluding with the banned militant outfit ULFA.
Mahanta had launched an investigation into the alleged links, asserting that funding extremists through business houses amounted to “an anti-national act”.
To add to the already precarious situation, then came the “Tata Tapes” controversy, another jolt to the Tata Group.
At the heart of the controversy was Assam’s then Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who accused the Tata Group, particularly Tata Tea, of having ties with ULFA.
Mahanta’s government was under significant pressure due to the escalating militancy-related violence in the state. ULFA, advocating for Assam’s independence from India, had been extorting money from various businesses, including tea companies, to fund its operations.
The ULFA, according to an India Today report from 1990, had mounted violent attacks on tea gardens in Assam, most of them owned by private sector companies outside the state.
While many companies succumbed to these demands out of fear, Tata Tea said it was adamant in its refusal to pay any ransom or provide financial support to the militants. It categorically refused to heed to the demands.
However, the senior leadership of Tata Tea, including its former Managing Director (MD) RK Krishna Kumar, found itself facing a series of tough questions from investigators, after a few officials were booked by the Assam government for aiding the ULFA.
That’s when Ratan Tata decided to act.
“Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata rushed to Delhi on a damage-control mission,” reported India Today journalist Avirook Sen in September 1997.
“Sources say some heavy artillery was also pulled out: Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta is reported to have even received a call from his West Bengal counterpart Jyoti Basu, one of the main power centres in the ruling United Front Government,” the report added.
It was after almost 20 days of this report, that the October meeting took place at Jethmalani’s Mumbai residence to handle the situation better.
Between Assam CM Prafulla Mahanta’s allegations and the Tata crisis management group meeting, a twist added yet another layer of intrigue to the brewing storm.
It was the Tata Tapes controversy of 1997, some 11 years before the Radia Tapes controversy of 2008, that involved Ratan Tata too.
A series of leaked telephone conversation transcripts involving Nusli Wadia, and several high-profile people, including Keshub Mahindra, Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw, and Ratan Tata himself, was published in the India Express on October 5.
These tapes, accessed by journalist Ritu Sarin, suggested that the Tatas were seeking the intervention of the central government to mitigate their problems with the Assam government.
The tapes implied that the Tatas were aware of the whereabouts of Brojen Gogoi, a senior Tata Tea executive who was wanted by the police for allegedly aiding ULFA, despite their claims to the contrary.
In the tapes, the Tata Tea’s problems with the Assam government were discussed, reported India Today journalist Swapan Dasgupta.
“Apart from titillating insights into Wadia’s pugnaciousness, the transcripts, according to The Indian Express, ‘indicate… that the Tatas could have withheld damaging evidence from the Assam Police’,” Dasgupta reported.
Brojen Gogoi, a senior manager with Tata Tea’s Community Development and Social Welfare wing, was at the centre of the storm, according to the report.
Gogoi had accompanied Pranati Deka, an ULFA member, to Mumbai for medical treatment. Tata Tea covered the Rs 50,000 expenses under a special medical aid programme. Tata Tea, however, claimed it was unaware of Deka’s real identity, stating the assistance was part of their broader healthcare initiative for Assam’s residents.
The Assam police interrogated several Tata Tea executives, including SS Dogra, SN Kidwai, and Krishna Kumar, and even arrested Dogra for allegedly aiding ULFA.
Ratan Tata and Krishna Kumar, the managing director of Tata Tea, even met Assam Chief Minister Mahanta in Delhi on September 15, to address these allegations, according to an India Today report from October 1997.
However, the Tatas remained adamant and denied any involvement with ULFA. The Tatas insisted that the company had not provided any financial support to the militants. The Tatas even continued the medical assistance for employees on its dozens of tea estates in Assam.
Despite the allegations and the storm, Ratan Tata maintained that the company’s actions were driven by a commitment to social welfare and not by any intent to support militants.
In the end, Ratan Tata and the Tata Group emerged from this crisis with their reputation intact.