MUMBAI: Snapping his last ties with the Tatas following his ouster from the Tata Trusts and subsequent voluntary resignation from them, Mehli Mistry has stepped down as the chairman of the Mumbai-based trust that operates the Small Animal Hospital founded by the late Tata group patriarch Ratan Tata.
On October 28, the three trustees -- chairman Noel Tata and the two vice-chairmen Vijay Singh and Venu Srinivasan -- of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust voted Mistry out. Owning between them 52% of the trusts' 66.6% stake in Tata Sons, these are the two largest of the dozen-odd trusts that form Tata Trusts. Though Mistry had filed a caveat before the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner in early November, he resigned voluntarily from the trusts a few days later.
Mistry’s resignation from the pet project of his mentor Ratan Tata comes less than 14 months after the latter's passing, a period marked by differences among the trustees of the Tata Trusts.
Two days after Ratan Tata’s death on October 11, 2024, Noel Tata, the half-brother of the group doyen, was appointed chairman of the trusts. Since then, Noel has been asserting control of the trusts by becoming a permanent trustee of the philanthropic entities, inducting his son, Neville Tata, and his friend and former head of Titan Bhaskar Bhat, on the board of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), and removing Mistry as a trustee of the trusts.
Differences between the trustees boiled over in the September 11, 2025 board meeting when Mistry, Darius Khambata, Pramit Jhaveri and Jehangir HC Jehangir voted against the continuation of the trusts vice-chairman and one of the three nominee directors on the Tata Sons board.
In his resignation emailed to the hospital management on Monday morning, Mistry, who did not answer a call and message from TNIE, has reportedly cited being a non-member of the main Tata Trusts as the main reason for his decision as he is no longer in a position to fund the hospital, a source told TNIE.
“I would also not like to request funding from a trust I am no longer associated with and therefore I tender my resignation with immediate effect,” he wrote.
The source said a trustee of the hospital Dr Anirudh Kohli, who is the chief executive of the Breach Candy Hospital Trust, also called it quits later in the day.
Mistry also proposed the name of Siddharth Sharma as his replacement, saying he is the most suitable person to arrange funds from the trusts as he is the chief executive of Tata Trusts.
The Small Animal Hospital was a pet project of Ratan Tata, who was a great animal lover himself. He personally had overseen the construction of the hospital in the central Mumbai locality of Mahalaxmi at an investment of Rs 165 crore. The facility, driven by the late Tata's own personal experience of having to fly his own injured dog to the University of Minnesota for advanced surgery due to a lack of similar world-class facilities here at the time, was commissioned in July 2024, months before his passing.
A non-profit initiative supported by the Tata Trusts, this state-of-the-art, 24x7 hospital spanning over 1 lakh sqft across five floors, offers comprehensive veterinary services, including emergency care, ICUs, and HDUs with life support, for critically ill small animals. It has advanced diagnostic imaging such as CT scans, MRIs, X-rays, and ultrasound and offers specialty treatments in areas like dermatology, dental care, and ophthalmology.
The most advanced veterinary hospital in the country, it is dedicated exclusively to dogs, cats and birds, and is led by British veterinarian Dr Thomas Heathcote. While treatment for pets costs Rs 1,100 for consultation and treatment, treatment for stray animals is free. Ratan Tata was also a big supporter and care giver to stray animals and the Bombay House even today feeds and houses plenty of stray dogs at its basement.
The trustees of the hospital trust are Noel Tata’s eldest daughter Leah Tata; Siddharth Sharma, the chief executive of the Tata Trusts; major general Pramod Batra; former chief financial officer of Hinduja Global Solutions Lakshminarayanan CS; Mehernosh Kapadia,a former chief financial officer of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Shastri RR, an advisor to the Tata Trusts; and Shantanu Naidu, a former executive assistant to the late Ratan Tata.
The Tata Trusts oversees the Small Animal Hospital Trust through the non-profit Advanced Veterinary Care Foundation.