Despite the dismissal of a plea seeking to halt it, the board meeting of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) was called off at the last minute on Friday amid mounting internal differences and legal scrutiny.
The SRTT board meeting, which was scheduled to discuss nominations to the Tata Sons board and consider the reappointment of N Chandrasekaran for a third term as chairman of the salt-to-software conglomerate, was cancelled without any specific reason being cited, a source told TNIE. The source added that the meeting may now be held next Friday, although no official communication has yet been issued by the CEO’s office.
The abrupt cancellation came even as the Bombay High Court on Thursday declined to entertain a petition seeking a stay on the meeting over alleged violations relating to lifetime trustee limits and internal rules governing the trust.
The petition, filed on Wednesday by Suresh Tulsiram Patilkhede from nearby Thane, challenged the validity of the proposed board meeting and alleged violations of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act by the Tata Trusts. The legal challenge comes amid broader governance concerns being raised by some trustees and outsiders across the group’s trusts over trustee appointments, board procedures and compliance with trust deeds.
Governance-related tensions have intensified in recent months after objections were raised over reappointment procedures and the validity of resolutions passed by some of the smaller trusts.
Friday’s cancellation follows an earlier SRTT meeting in January that was also called off due to lack of quorum, underlining continuing internal tensions. That meeting was expected to consider the appointment of Neville Tata, son of Noel Tata, as a trustee of the SRTT. Neville Tata has been a trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust since last November.
The proposed board meeting was also expected to deliberate on the representation of Tata Trusts on the Tata Sons board. Currently, Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan sit on the Tata Sons board. The trusts are entitled to nominate one more representative, as they typically hold one-third of the board seats at Tata Sons. The third position has remained vacant since last September after trust vice-chairman Vijay Singh was voted out by other trustees led by Mehli Mistry.
Together, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust account for nearly 52% of the Tata Trusts’ combined 66.4% stake in Tata Sons.
