The National Company Law Tribunal has issued an interim order preventing RattanIndia from altering the shareholding structure of Throttle Aerospace Systems (TAS) amidst a dispute
TAS, India's first DGCA-approved drone maker, saw its founder and leadership team resign, leading to a legal battle over company control
The interim order mandates maintaining the status quo on TAS's shareholding pattern until the next hearing on December 14, 2023
The National Company Law Tribunal in Bengaluru has issued an interim order that prevents RattanIndia Enterprises and its subsidiary, Neosky India, from altering the shareholding structure of Throttle Aerospace Systems (TAS) until the next hearing.
In May 2022, RattanIndia Enterprises acquired a 60% stake in TAS through its drone subsidiary, Neosky India. TAS is India’s first drone manufacturer, provisionally approved by the DGCA for civil drones. Additionally, it possesses a license from the Ministry of Defence to manufacture military drones under the country’s new drone policy.
TAS specialises in the design and development of indigenous drones for various sectors, including agriculture, inspection, mapping, mining, monitoring, cargo payload, last-mile delivery, and surveillance.
In a surprising turn of events in July 2023, Nagendran Kandasamy, the founder and CEO of Throttle Aerospace Systems, stepped down from his role. Furthermore, the entire leadership team, consisting of COO Nischitha, CFO Girish Reddy, and CTO Shashi Kumar R, resigned from their respective positions.
Kandasamy, along with Madhu, Reddy, and Kumar, collectively retained a 40% equity stake in the company.
The dispute further escalated when Kandasamy received a notice on August 31, 2023, calling for his removal as a director of the company and an increase in the company’s authorised capital from INR 16,00,000 to INR 63,00,000, divided into 6,30,000 equity shares of INR 10 each.
Following this, Kandasamy, along with Kumar and Madhu moved to NCLT in September 2023, seeking an immediate stay on his removal from the board and any changes in shareholding pattern.
In the interim order, the NCLT has instructed that the shareholding pattern of TAS should remain unchanged and has directed RattanIndia, Neosky, and other respondents to submit their responses within three weeks.
Kandasamy, in his petition, urged the tribunal to direct RattanIndia and its management not to remove him or convene any meetings for his removal as a director of the company during the pending legal proceedings. Inc42 has seen a copy of the petition.
The next hearing for this case is scheduled for December 14, 2023.
One of the key individuals who departed TAS had earlier informed Inc42 that the RattanIndia management, following its acquisition of a 60% stake, started interfering in every decision and imposed various constraints using its majority share. The executive team was even hindered in making day-to-day decisions, and financial support to TAS was nearly halted, according to sources.
In July, the wave of resignations occurred after the management decided to terminate TAS CFO Reddy. The entire leadership team expressed their support for Reddy and subsequently resigned.
