The battle between Tata Sons and ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry escalated on Thursday. Tata Sons issued a blistering nine-page note, the first official statement by Tata Sons explaining the reasons for Mistry's sacking. It listed out a point-by-point rebuttal of the allegations made by the former Chairman in his note to the board soon after his exit. Tata Sons' note leveled serious charges against ousted Chairman Cyrus Mistry, including "poor performance", "disregard of long-standing Tata traditions" and betrayal of trust owing to his "desire to take control" of group companies. Mistry camp sources denied all the charges and said the note was part of the'smear campaign' launched by Tata Sons against Mistry.