The Supreme Court on Monday asked industrialist Nusli Wadia to explore the possibility of reaching an out-of-court settlement of the defamation suit that he had filed against Ratan Tata after being removed as an independent director of three Tata group companies — Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Chemicals — in December 2016.

Wadia was accused of taking Cyrus Mistry’s side in his fight against Ratan Tata and the Tata Trusts. Mistry was eventually removed as the chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, 2016.

“Both of you are mature people. You are leaders of the industry. Why do you want to pursue the litigation? Why don’t you sit together and resolve it,” Chief Justice S.A. Bobde asked senior advocate C.A.Sundaram who appeared for Wadia at the hearing.

On July 23 last year, a two-judge bench of the Bombay high court quashed proceedings in a Mumbai magistrate’s court on Wadia’s defamation suit against Ratan Tata, new chairman N. Chandrasekaran and eight other directors of Tata Sons.

Sundaram told the court that Wadia had no complaint against the Tata Group of companies for his removal but was only aggrieved by the manner in which certain resolutions relating to his removal were selectively leaked to the media in 2016. He, however, assured the court that he would seek instructions from his client on the suggestion to settle the dispute amicably.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Ratan Tata, however, told the court that nothing survives in the petition as the Bombay high court had rightly concluded that there was no evidence of defamation against Wadia.

The bench, which has Justices Bhushan Gavai and Surya Kant on it, asked Sundaram to clarify whether he was ready to go in for an out-of-court settlement or continue with the defamation suit. He has time till January 13 to submit Wadia’s views.