New Delhi. The controversy arising in Tata Trusts is not showing any signs of stopping. The Mehli Mistry case had just cooled down when a controversy has arisen over the appointment of Neville Tata, son of Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata, and Bhaskar Bhatt, former head of Titan Company, in Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT). Now trustee Venu Srinivasan has expressed objection to the appointment of Neville and Bhatt in Sir Ratan Tata Trust. Due to this, the appointment of both of them has been stopped in ARTT.
According to a report by Live Mint, three senior officials said that Srinivasan said that the names of both were not on the agenda of the meeting and it required further discussion. As a result, only Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) has appointed Bhaskar Bhatt, former head of Neville and Titan Company, whereas this has not happened in SRTT. In Tata Trusts, unanimity is required for the appointment or removal of a trustee. For this reason Neville and Bhatt were appointed to the board of SDTT, but not to SRTT. Emails sent to Srinivasan and Tata Trusts seeking comment did not elicit any response.
Who is included in which trust?
Noel Tata and Vijay Singh are members of both the trusts. Pramit Jhaveri (former CEO, Citibank India) and Mumbai lawyer Darius Khambata are members of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, while Khambata and Pune-based philanthropist H.C. Jahangir are members of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT). Ratan Tata’s brother Jimmy N Tata is also a trustee of SRTT, but due to his increasing age he no longer attends the meetings.
Tata Trusts has the largest stake in Tata Sons
It is noteworthy that SDTT and SRTT hold 27.98% and 23.56% stake in Tata Sons respectively, while other small trusts hold 14.4%. Thus, these philanthropic institutions together hold a 65.9% majority stake in the holding company of the Tata Group. The remaining stake is held by Shapoorji Pallonji Group (18.38%), nine Tata group companies (12.86%), and seven individuals (2.87%).
Srinivasan was made permanent trustee
Last month, Srinivasan was made the permanent trustee of both the trusts. However, under the new ordinance of the Maharashtra government, the number of permanent trustees in the board has now been limited to one-fourth, making this decision invalid. Due to this ordinance, Srinivasan did not attend the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) meeting that started at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, while Noel, Singh, Khambatta and Jhaveri were present.
According to an official, Khambatta proposed Neville’s name, while Singh suggested Bhatt’s name, which was approved by all the members in the absence of Srinivasan. According to a third official, Noel abstained from voting on Neville’s name. “Khambhata stressed that Neville’s appointment would carry forward the Tata legacy. He specifically mentioned that Ratan Tata wanted to see this appointment in his lifetime,” the third official said.
In the SDTT meeting, members also proposed to change Srinivasan’s role from a permanent trustee to a three-year tenure as per the ordinance of the Maharashtra government. All trustees present approved this change to ensure compliance with the rules before the start of the SRTT meeting. Subsequently, Srinivasan was re-appointed to both SRTT and SDTT for a three-year tenure.
Objection to Neville’s name
After the SDTT meeting and appointments, the SRTT board meeting started at 5:30 pm in which Noel, Srinivasan, Khambatta and Jahangir were present. Disagreements came to light in this meeting. According to officials, when Srinivasan was informed about the appointment of Neville and Bhatt, he was surprised. An official said, “Srinivasan said that the topic was not included in the agenda of the meeting and he rejected the proposal. As a result, Neville and Bhaskar were not included on the board of SRTT.”
