Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan Reportedly Oppose Mehli Mistry’s Reappointment as Tata Trusts Trustee

The reappointment of trustee Mehli Mistry, whose term expires on October 28, is unlikely to be approved by Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, vice chairman Venu Srinivasan, and Vijay Singh, several persons close to the issue informed ET. On 27 October, the trustees may communicate their choice.

This week is Mistry’s renewal vote. Mistry has served as a trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) since 2022. Together, the two trusts own 51% of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. Siddharth Sharma, the CEO of Tata Trusts, moved a resolution on Friday to extend his tenure. According to sources, Jehangir HC Jehangir, Pramit Jhaveri, and trustee Darius Khambata have all agreed.

According to insiders, the dispute over his reappointment may lead to legal challenges. Mistry was perceived as hostile against chairman Noel Tata and the other nominated directors on the Tata Sons board, including Singh and Srinivasan.

Tata Trust Has Become a New Battle Ground

At Tata Trusts, trustee appointments, like other choices, are typically made by consensus. About a year after the passing of long-time patriarch Ratan Tata, on September 11, the trustees defied tradition by voting by majority to remove former defence secretary Vijay Singh as a nominated director on the Tata Sons board. That started a series of events that brought the infighting at India’s most prominent public trusts to the attention of the entire country.

It’s unclear if a majority vote can be used to reappoint a trustee in the event of disagreements or if a unanimous decision is needed. According to insiders, this is new ground for the trusts because, in the decades prior to Ratan Tata’s leadership of the organisation, trust decisions were not put to a vote.

Trust affairs are decided by a combination of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act regulations, the trust deed (or the will by which the trust was established, as in the case of Sir Ratan Tata Trust, founded in 1916), and resolutions passed by trustees from time to time. This is in contrast to companies, whose governance is standardised under the Companies Act and other applicable laws. According to the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust’s 1932 trust deed, “the decision of a majority of the trustees present at a meeting shall bind the minority,” and a quorum necessitates three trustees.

Recent Resolution by Tata Trust Trustees

Additionally, there is a more recent resolution that is pertinent. The “moment of transition between two eras” was marked by the trustees’ meeting on October 17, nine days following Ratan Tata’s passing. They committed to the founding fathers’ vision and ethos and agreed to act in concert and in support of the trusts’ goals and objectives.

According to the resolution, a copy of which ET has examined, they determined that all trustees will be reappointed by the relevant trust at the expiration of their term, with no time limit placed on the term of such reappointment. This implies that all trustees will have their terms extended for life. However, the resolution does not include enough details about the process by which this will be accomplished.

According to ET, Mistry, a close friend of the late Ratan Tata, conditionally approved Srinivasan’s reappointment as vice chairman and trustee of SDTT last week. Late on October 21, he sent an email requesting reciprocity in the extension of his own tenure. His email appeared to recognise that a unanimous trustee decision is necessary for reappointment for life.

For the avoidance of doubt, Mehli’s response asserted that I do not formally approve the reappointment of Venu Srinivasan in the event that any trustee chooses not to pass this resolution or an identical unanimous resolution for all other trustees as and when their respective tenures expire.