2 of 3 life trustees at Sir Ratan Tata Trust may need to step down

Immediate corrective action mandated to comply with rules

- NIVEDITA MOOKERJI

Life trusteeship is in focus again at Tata Trusts with the authorities seeking immediate compliance with the rulebook, failing which the Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra could step in to take action.

Tata Trusts, which owns about 66 per cent in Tata Sons, the holding company of the salt-to-software conglomerate, has to convene a meeting within a week to rectify the violations— implying two of the three life trustees must step down at Sir Ratan Tata Trust, it is learnt.

According to Section 30A(2) of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, the number of perpetual trustees at Sir Ratan Tata Trust (one of the main shareholders of Tata Sons), "shall not exceed one-fourth of the total number of trustees." Currently, out of the six trustees, three are perpetual or life trustees.

Compliance with Section 30A(2) would mean two out of the three life trustees would need to seek reappointment with a fixed tenure through a process of voting by trustees, according to legal documents reviewed by Business Standard.

The three trustees for life are Jimmy N Tata (brother of late Ratan Tata), Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and Jehangir HC.

Of this lot, Jimmy N Tata was appointed life trustee way back in May 1989, while Noel Tata and Jehangir HC were inducted as life trustees some 30 years later, in February 2019. The other trustees at Sir Ratan Tata Trust are Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh and Darius Khambata-all on fixed tenure. While the legal opinion provided to the group by Justice Krishna Murari, former Supreme Court judge, does not mention who among the three should step down, the "last in, first out" principle may apply, according to experts.