Srinivasan’s continuity at Tata Trusts a mere formality

Four of the seven trustees of Tata Trusts have termed the appointment of TVS Motor Co. chair emeritus Venu Srinivasan as a lifelong trustee a “procedural formality”, referring to a unanimous decision granting themselves permanent positions in October last year.

- Varun Sood & Satish John

With the approval, the four trustees—former Citibank India CEO Pramit Jhaveri, Mumbai lawyer Darius Khambata, businessman Mehli Mistry and Pune-based philanthropist and businessman Jehangir H.C. Jehangir—have also said that all other trustees get similar lifelong trusteeships when their terms come up for reappointment. The trustees’ acknowledgment that the renewal of Srinivasan’s tenure is automatic signals that the decision to reappoint him does not indicate an end to the divisions at Tata Trusts.

The united stand of the four trustees comes at a time when Mistry’s reappointment comes up for renewal next week.

Questions over Mistry’s continuance rose after the four trustees rallied over the last year to seek more information from their three colleagues—Tata Trusts chair Noel Tata, former defence secretary Vijay Singh, and Srinivasan—who until 11 September were representatives of Tata Trusts on the six-member board of Tata Sons. Unhappiness over not sharing information on Tata Sons board decisions led the four trustees to pull Singh from the Tata Sons board. The action exposed divisions within the promoter group of the country’s largest conglomerate.

Noel Tata and Srinivasan remain the Tata Trusts’ representatives on the board of Tata Sons.