Tata Sons on Monday appeared to dismiss the letter ousted chairperson Cyrus Mistry had written to shareholders earlier in the day, instead accusing him of attempting to turn the conglomerate into his “personal fiefdom”, The Times of India reported. The group said Mistry had slowly “concentrated all power and authority in his own hands” during his tenure as chairperson since 2011.

In his letter addressed to the shareholders of Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Motors and Indian Hotels, Mistry had said, “If I have been critical of past decisions, it was not to apportion blame but in an effort to redeem the future.”

However, the conglomerate said Mistry was on his way to becoming the only Tata Sons representative on the boards of operating companies, unlike the previous chairpersons.

The conglomerate’s statement said Mistry was appointed chairperson on the boards of several Tata companies as a corollary to his post. It added, “Any other person would have stepped down from the chairmanship of Tata operating companies because he no longer enjoyed the support of the principal shareholder.”

On administrative issues, the group said, “Trusts are governed by the individual wills of Jamsetji Tata, his two sons, Sir Dorabji Tata and Sir Ratan Tata, and other founders. The trusts have been scrupulously following the mandates set out in the wills.” The statement said the conglomerate has been working “cohesively and seamlessly for the benefit of all stakeholders”.

“There was no other agenda or personal interest as ultimately even the dividends paid to Tata Sons and subsequently to its own shareholders went largely back to philanthropy except for those paid to the minority shareholders,” the group said.

Mistry was ousted as chairperson on October 24.