New Delhi: Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and two other powerful trustees considered close to him blocked the reappointment of late Ratan Tata’s close associate and businessman Mehli Mistry as trustee, deepening the rift at the philanthropic arm that controls the holding company of the Tata Group, people familiar with the matter said.
Noel Tata was appointed head of Tata Trusts following the death of Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata last year.
TVS Motor Co’s chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan and former defence secretary Vijay Singh voted against Mistry’s reappointment as trustee after the end of his three-year tenure on Tuesday, they said.
According to an executive privy to the development, Noel Tata, TVS Motor Co. Ltd. Chairman Emeritus Venu Srinivasan, as well as former Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, voted against Mehli Mistry’s trusteeship for life. The three other trustees—former Citibank India CEO Pramit Jhaveri, Mumbai-based lawyer Darius Khambata and Pune-based philanthropist Jehangir H.C. Jehangir—voted in favour.
The split vote comes days after four trustees led by Mehli Mistry approved Venu Srinivasan’s trusteeship for life, calling it a “procedural formality.”
According to the executive cited above, the opposition to Mehli Mistry as a permanent trustee on the board of Tata Trusts presents two immediate challenges for Noel Tata:
- First, Mehli Mistry is most likely to legally contest the decision, given that a joint meeting of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust had on 17 October 2024 agreed to make all current trustees permanent.
- Second, the standoff raises questions on how Tata Trusts will now achieve consensus, especially since Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambata and Jehangir H.C. Jehangir—along with Mehli Mistry—had voted to remove Vijay Singh as Tata Trusts representative on the board of Tata Sons.
At present, Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan continue to serve as Tata Trusts representatives on the Tata Sons board.
