The petition argued that the continuation of three perpetual trustees defeats the article of the modification, which was to forestall entrenchment of a small group of lifetime trustees, guarantee broader accountability and defend the general public charitable character of trusts.
The battle over management of the Tata Trusts has acquired yet one more dimension with a public curiosity litigation filed by a lawyer with the Charity Commissioner, Mumbai, on Saturday, drawing his consideration to a violation within the matter of lifetime trustees on the board of Sir Ratan Tata Belief (SRTT).
The petition, filed by lawyer Katyayani Agrawal of legislation agency SV & Co, sought “pressing intervention”, alleging that SRTT, which has three lifetime trustees in a board of six members, violated the provisions of Part 30A of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950.
This part, launched by way of an modification in September 2025, says perpetual or lifetime trustees could make up solely one-fourth of a public belief’s board. The ratio is now half in SRTT.
Agrawal is known to have filed the petition on behalf of her senior, Justice T Raja, who retired as performing Chief Justice of the Madras Excessive Court docket in Could 2023.
When businessline contacted Justice Raja, he initially stated that any particular person might file a petition as SRTT is a public charitable belief. However he later confirmed that the petition was filed on behalf of a consumer whom he declined to establish. An e-mail despatched to Tata Trusts’ CEO Siddharth Sharma didn’t elicit a response till the time of going to the press.
‘Defeats amended part’
The petition argued that the continuation of three perpetual trustees defeats the article of the modification, which was to forestall entrenchment of a small group of lifetime trustees, guarantee broader accountability and defend the general public charitable character of trusts.
“Such violation renders the present structure of the Board of Trustees unlawful and liable to be rectified forthwith,” the petition argues, calling for a right away inquiry into the composition of the board and a path to the Belief to adjust to Part 30A by lowering the variety of lifetime trustees.
SRTT, arrange in 1919, and Sir Dorabji Tata Belief, are the 2 foremost trusts that collectively management 50.54 per cent shareholding of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd. The present trustees in SRTT are Noel Tata (Chairman), Venu Srinivasan (Vice Chairman), Vijay Singh, Jimmy Tata, Darius Khambata and Jehangir HC Jehangir. Of those, Noel Tata, Jimmy Tata and Jehangir HC Jehangir are lifetime trustees. Based on the present legislation, there will be just one lifetime trustee on the board of SRTT.
Except the belief board measurement is doubled, two of the current lifetime trustees will lose their privilege. Considerably, Jimmy Tata, youthful brother of the late Ratan Tata, was already a lifetime trustee on the board when Noel, their half brother, was inducted into the board in 2019. The PIL seems to take goal at Noel now.
The petition has sought quick intervention. “Given the excessive public profile of the Belief and the truth that it controls important public charitable funds, any delay in intervention will perpetuate an unlawful state of affairs and erode public confidence within the regulatory framework. I, subsequently, request that this matter be handled as extraordinarily pressing and applicable motion be taken inside the shortest potential time,” it stated.
Printed on April 19, 2026
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