The much-awaited board meetings of Tata Trusts, which were scheduled to take place today, have reportedly been postponed to May 16 amid legal complications. The postponement comes at a time when the Trusts are facing heightened scrutiny over issues related to their board composition and representation on the board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group.

This marks the second revision to the meeting schedule. The meetings were initially planned for May 12 before being advanced to May 8, according to reports.

Ahead of the meetings, divisions within the umbrella charitable organisation have become more visible, with trustees taking differing positions on matters such as the reappointment of Natarajan Chandrasekaran as chairman of Tata Sons, as well as the possibility of listing the holding company.

Although trustees of the two principal trusts — Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust — had passed a resolution in July 2025 backing Chandrasekaran’s reappointment for another term as chairman of Tata Sons, trustee Vijay Singh, who serves on both boards, has reportedly raised questions over whether that resolution continues to hold.

Noel Tata currently chairs Tata Trusts, while Venu Srinivasan, chairman of the TVS Group, serves as vice-chairman. Apart from former Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, senior lawyer Darius Khambata is also a common member across the two trusts. The Sir Ratan Tata Trust additionally includes Jimmy Tata and Jehangir H. C. Jehangir as trustees, while the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust includes Neville Tata and former Titan executive Bhaskar Bhat as trustees. Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan represent the Trusts on the board of Tata Sons, where they hold veto powers in key decision-making matters.

Last year, while approving another term for Chandrasekaran, the Tata Trusts board had tasked the group chairman with engaging with the Reserve Bank of India to facilitate Tata Sons’ exit from the ‘Upper Layer’ non-banking financial company (NBFC-UL) category and ensure regulatory compliance. Under existing regulations, NBFC-ULs are required to pursue stock market listing.

Noel Tata has consistently maintained that Tata Sons should remain privately held, arguing that a public listing could expose the group to external shareholder influence and impact its long-term strategic and philanthropic objectives. The late Ratan Tata had also held similar views on keeping Tata Sons private.