Action around trustee term kicks in at Tata Trusts

Venu Srinivasan’s term up for renewal, Mehli Mistry next in line

- DEV CHATTERJEE & NIVEDITA MOOKERJI

In the midst of heightened tension within Tata Trusts, a circular seeking renewal of a trustee's term is being watched with interest, according to a source in the know. Ever since the rift between the trustees surfaced in September, the first case of a renewal has come up with industrialist Venu Srinivasan, vice-chairman of Tata Trusts, entering the last week of his three-year term as trustee at Sir Dorabji Tata Trust—one of the two main trusts with the largest shareholding in Tata Sons. Tata Trusts has now sent a circular to all its trustees to seek their approval for Srinivasan’s reappointment by the end of his term, October 23, it is learnt. Srinivasan, who’s also a trustee at another core trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, is a nominee director on the board of Tata Sons—the holding firm of the salt-to-software conglomerate.

While Srinivasan’s renewal is already on the table, another is expected to come up shortly. Mehli Mistry, a close associate of Ratan Tata, is approaching the end of his current term at both the top trusts—Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust. Mistry, who’s related to the Shapoorji Pallonji family, had supported Ratan Tata during the long-drawn corporate war that followed Cyrus Mistry’s ouster as Tata Sons chairman in 2016.