- Charity Commissioner orders Tata Trusts to defer Sir Ratan Tata Trust board meeting scheduled today
- Order relates only to Sir Ratan Tata Trust and was issued ex parte without prior notice, says Tata Trusts
- Complaint alleges violation of rules on lifetime trustees exceeding 25% of Sir Ratan Tata Trust board
The Maharashtra State Charity Commissioner has ordered Tata Trusts to defer a meeting of its board of trustees scheduled on May 16, citing a complaint over alleged violation of rules for the board composition of Sir Ratan Tata Trust.
Tata Trusts, among Asia's largest philanthropic institutions and India's oldest, established in 1892, in a statement said the order is "ex-parte" and pertains only to Sir Ratan Tata Trust.
"The directions received from the Office of Charity Commissioner are being examined by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust," Tata Trusts said in the statement.
Tata Trusts own 66 per cent of Tata Sons, the group's holding company, and the meeting on Saturday was important because issues such Tata Sons' listing, reappointment of Tata Sons' chairman N Chandrasekaran and other nominee directors was reported to be discussed. The meeting was originally scheduled for May 8, but was postponed to May 16.
"We understand that the direction issued is only in respect of SRTT. It is reiterated that the direction was issued ex parte, with no notice being given to SRTT and no hearing being afforded to it, before the direction was issued," Tata Trusts said.
The charity commissioner, Amogh S Kaloti, said an investigation is pending following a complaint over the composition of the board of trustees of SRTT, or Sir Ratan Tata Trusts.
"... It is further directed not to hold any such meeting till submission of the report of the inspector inquiry," the charity commissioner said in the order.
Lawyer Katyayani Agrawal, who sought the charity commissioner's intervention in the matter, told news agency PTI that the charity commissioner has indeed written to Tata Trusts asking to defer all the future board meets, including one scheduled today.
"The inspector appointed will conduct an inquiry and submit a report to the charity commissioner," Agarwal said. On April 18, the lawyer sought the intervention for alleged violation of Section 30A(2) of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, and asked the charity commissioner to exercise statutory powers under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act.
This section, amended in September 2025, restricts perpetual or lifetime trustees on a trust to a maximum of 25 per cent of the overall board strength.
Tata Trusts said it has been made to understand the September 2025 amendment to the law is prospective in nature.
SRTT owns 23.6 per cent of Tata Sons, the holding company of the over $180 billion Tata Group. Currently, SRTT has six trustees and three of them - Jimmy Naval Tata, Jehangir HC Jehangir, and Noel Naval Tata - are lifetime trustees, constituting 50 per cent of the board.
