In a boardroom coup in October, Cyrus Mistry was removed as chairman of Tata Sons, holding company of the $100 billion steel-to-autos Tata empire, with family patriach Ratan Tata temporarily returning to the helm. Mistry, who had sought to strengthen the firm's governance, remains a director of several group companies such as Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Indian Hotels Co Ltd. Special shareholder meetings have been called by these companies next week to remove him. Mistry has found support from some independent directors like Nusli Wadia, who sits on the boards of some group companies including Tata Motors, owner of luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata Steel. In a scathing 13-page letter to shareholders, seen by Reuters on Wednesday, Wadia, who has been with Tata for about four decades, said Tata Sons "sought to illegally and inappropriately influence events and coerce the directors."