Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday skipped the Annual General Meeting of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), marking his absence from the group’s shareholder gathering for the second consecutive day.

Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo

This is the first time in over 17 years that Chandrasekaran, who was elevated as the chairman of the diversified conglomerate after working as TCS’s chief executive, has missed the AGM of the largest IT services company.

TCS’ company secretary Yashaswin Sheth informed shareholders of the country’s largest IT services company that chairman Chandrasekaran will not be able to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) due to “some exigencies”.

Chandrasekaran could not attend the Tata Consumer Products AGM on Wednesday, reportedly because of his focus on the tragic crash of Air India’s plane in Ahmedabad last week, which resulted in the loss of 270 people, including 241 passengers and crew members.

It can be noted that Chandrasekaran was elevated to Tata Sons as the chairman in 2017, after being the CEO of TCS for eight years and had served as the chief operating officer before that.

Sheth said the company directors have elected independent director Keki Mistry to preside over as the chairman for the AGM.

“This is a very difficult time for us at the Tata Group. We are all deeply saddened.

“This is an unimaginable tragedy that has resulted in so many losses of lives. Words can be of no consolation right now,” Mistry, a finance industry veteran, said.

“Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the people who have lost their lives. Tata Group stands in solidarity with the affected people in these challenging times.”

Many of the shareholders mentioned the Air India tragedy and also Ratan Tata’s death last year in their remarks.

The TCS board paid tribute to all the victims of the crash by observing a minute’s silence before beginning the proceedings of the meeting.

“…So many deaths to occur at once is incomprehensible. This is one of the darkest days in the Tata Group’s history.

“Words are no consolation right now, but our thoughts are with the families and the loved ones of the people who died and were injured in the crash. We are here for them,” said PB Balaji, who was chairman of the meeting of Tata Consumer Products, in the absence of Chandrasekharan.

During the AGM, several shareholders also wished the Tata Group to navigate these challenging times.

Replying to it, Balaji said: “We understand the sentiments.

“We are absolutely committed to getting to the bottom of it and at the same time ensuring that we support every one of the persons who have been impacted by this.”

Obviously, there is a lot of water distilled to flow onto the bridge in terms of the investigations, he said.

“So, we will await the outcome of that, and we will ensure that as a Tata group here and Air India, we are fully cooperating and absolutely transparent in the whole process,” Balaji added.