Bengaluru and Mumbai: Less than two months after challenging his ouster from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trusts (SDTT), Mehli Mistry has questioned his removal from the Sir Ratan Tata Trusts (SRTT), the second-largest among the Tata Trusts. In an affidavit filed before the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner on Friday, the close associate of late tycoon Ratan Tata also questioned Tata Trusts chair Noel Tata for drawing a commission from Tata Sons.
Mistry’s latest petition also questioned the commissions drawn by Tata trustee and retired defence secretary Vijay Singh from Tata Group companies, and alleged a conflict of interest in TVS Motor Co. chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan —another trustee who also serves as Tata Sons board member—hiring a former Jaguar Land Rover creative head to work for his company.
“Applicant No. 2 (Noel Tata) also has been receiving annual commission of 1.42 crores from Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd as of the financial year 2024-2025,” Mistry said in his affidavit, a copy of which was seen by Mint.
While Tata, one of the six Tata Sons board members, received remuneration, Tata Trusts’ second Tata Sons nominee, Srinivasan, voluntarily decided not to take any fees, the Tata Sons annual report showed.
Mint could not independently ascertain whether Tata Trusts has a stated policy limiting its nominees from earning any fees from Tata Sons.
Mistry said the commissions must be returned to Tata Trusts.
“Any remuneration received by a trustee for the performance of their role as nominees of SDTT and SRTT ought to be returned to the Trust's funds and not personally pocketed by the trustee. “The resort to personal gain at the hands of the Trust raises, prima facie, a cloud on the public interest that permeates the entire function of SDTT and SRTT, and requires urgent intervention of this Hon'ble Commissioner. The applicant/objector submits that all such monies be directed to be returned to the trusts along with interest," Mistry said.
In April, Mistry had requested the charity commissioner to appoint an administrator to run the philanthropic entities behind the sprawling Tata Group of companies.
Apart from noting that Vijay Singh drew a commission of ₹20.1 crore between 2013 and 2025 from Tata Group companies, Mistry also asked the charity commissioner to probe whether any money was paid by TVS Group when it hired an executive from JLR.
“Reportedly, the TVS chairman, Applicant No. 3 (Venu Srinivasan), engaged Mr Gerry McGovern, then COO (chief operating officer) of Jaguar Land Rover Brand & Luxury, as a consultant for Norton Motorcycles Co., a subsidiary of TVS Holdings. This apparent act, in conflict of his interests as being a director of Tata Sons, the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover, and in breach of his fiduciary duties, as a trustee & nominated director, must be assessed by this Hon'ble Commissioner. It is further prayed that this Hon'ble Commissioner may be pleased to direct for disclosure by Applicant No. 3 (Venu Srinivasan) as to if any payment has been made to Jaguar Land Rover for utilizing the said services of Jaguar Land Rover,” said Mistry.
Mistry claims he does not seek a reinstatement with the Tata Trusts and is only filing these affidavits to expose what he believes were wrongdoings at the philanthropic entities, which, when he brought to light, led to his ouster.
“Upon learning of the commission being pocketed by Applicant Nos. 2 (Noel Tata) and 4 (Vijay Singh) and use of a Tata employee by Applicant No. 3 (Venu Srinivasan) for carrying out personal work, the Applicant/Objector drew the attention of the other Trustees to these acts of malfeasance and criminal breach of trust at a meeting of the Board of Trustees. The Applicant/Objector verily believes that since he insisted that this practice be stopped, since the Trust was being deprived of the funds, Applicant Nos. 2, 3 and 4 maliciously declined to renew his term. This demonstrates the inherent mala fides in the actions of the Applicant Nos. 2, 3, and 4, as well as their anxiety in keeping the wrongdoing under wraps."
Mistry and Tata Trusts did not respond to emailed queries.
Mistry, who was ousted from SDTT and the SRTT on 23 October after Noel, Srinivasan and Singh rejected his candidature, claims that the votes of the chairman (Noel) and one of the vice-chairmen should not have been counted toward his reappointment at SDTT. Pramit Jhaveri, who left after his trusteeship ended in February, and Darius Khambata had approved Mistry’s candidature. Ratan Tata’s brother Jimmy Tata was absent.
On 17 October 2024, Tata Trusts unanimously resolved that trustees would be made permanent upon expiry of their terms, ending the practice of appointing them for fixed terms.
“One of the unwritten purposes of this resolution was to ensure that trustees could act without fear that their bona fide actions would not impact the renewal of their term as trustee,” said Mistry’s April affidavit.
SDTT and SRTT own 27.98% and 23.56%, respectively, of Tata Sons, while the other smaller trusts own 14.4%, giving these philanthropic entities a majority ownership of 65.9% in the holding company of the diversified Tata Group. The remaining stakes are owned by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group (18.38%), nine Tata Group companies (12.86%), and seven individuals (2.87%).
Mistry’s legal salvo comes at a time when the charity commissioner has asked SRTT not to make any decisions after receiving a series of complaints and legal challenges, one of them from Srinivasan. One complaint is that SRTT’s decision to appoint three permanent trustees violated Maharashtra's charity rules, which capped the number of lifetime trustees at a fourth of the total. This implied SRTT, which has six trustees, could not have more than one permanent trustee.
