Maharashtra charity commissioner bars Tata Trusts from holding May 16 board meeting

Maharashtra charity commissioner Amogh S Kaloti on Thursday barred Tata Trusts from holding its board meeting on May 16, pending an inquiry into the composition of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) board.

SRTT holds 23.56% stake in Tata Sons, while Tata Trusts collectively own 66% stake in the holding company of the $180 billion FMCG-to-semiconductor conglomerate.

The order, issued under Section 36A(1) of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, has directed the trustees not to hold any meeting until an inspector's report on alleged statutory violations is submitted to the commissioner.

The directive follows two representations. One was from Advocate Katyayani Agrawal on April 18, and the other from SRTT trustee Venu Srinivasan on April 28, alleging that SRTT's board breaches a statutory cap on “life trustees” introduced last year. The order states that “the issues highlighted by them are serious and require due consideration.” A copy of the order has also been sent to Agrawal and Srinivasan.

Section 30A(2), amended into the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act through an ordinance effective September 1, 2025, caps lifetime trustees at 25% of any trust’s total board strength. Currently, SRTT has six trustees, of which Noel Tata, Jimmy Tata, and Jehangir H C Jehangir continue as “life trustees,” effectively double the statutory ceiling mandated as per the Act.

The order has stated that an inspector inquiry, under Section 37 of the Act, was ordered by the assistant charity commissioner on May 13. In light of this, the order states that the May 16 meeting “would lead to further complications and multiplicity of the proceedings.”

The Trusts' meeting was initially scheduled for May 8, but was deferred to May 16 following a petition filed by Suresh Tulsiram Patilkhede against the meeting.

According to reports, the agenda of the meeting included reconsidering Tata Trusts' representation on the board of Tata Sons. At present, Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and vice chairman Venu Srinivasan serve as trust nominees on the Tata Sons board.

The Commissioner's order also cites a May 13 ruling of the Bombay High Court, in which a division bench of Justices Advait Sethna and Sandesh Dadasaheb Patil had dismissed petitioner Patilkhede’s plea against the meeting. The order relies on the underlying statutory concerns observations made by the court of the May 16 meeting.

Following Ratan Tata's demise in October 2024, SRTT's board passed a resolution on October 17, 2024, stating that trustees would be reappointed without any limit on tenure. But the September 2025 ordinance, however, has nullified that resolution entirely. Internal differences have since deepened, with trustees reportedly divided on a possible future listing of Tata Sons.

Tata Trusts had not issued a public response at the time of filing. As per Section 36A(1), trustees are statutorily bound to administer trust affairs in accordance with the Charity Commissioner's directions.