Tata Trusts on Thursday said it stood vindicated after the charity commissioner of Maharashtra dismissed a complaint seeking an inquiry into the transfer of 833 shares of Tata Sons from Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust (NRTT) to Naval H Tata — the father of current Trusts Chairman Noel Tata — in 1989.
In an order dated September 2, the charity commissioner held that the transfer complied with the law in force at the time, said no further inquiry into the transaction was warranted, and disposed of a complaint filed by Vijay Singh, a trustee of NRTT, on June 10. The charity commissioner conducted a detailed examination of the allegations and NRTT’s response, along with supporting documents, before closing the complaint, Tata Trusts said in a statement.
Tata Trusts rejects allegations as baseless and malicious
“The Tata Trusts stand vindicated in their assertion that the allegations relating to the transfer of shares were baseless, unsubstantiated and malafide. These were undertaken as part of a wilful, malicious and orchestrated campaign which had, as its sole aim, the objective of discrediting the Tata Trusts,” the statement added.
The commissioner concluded that the sale of the shares was necessitated by statutory requirements and that the transfer was supported by proper documentation.
The consideration paid to the trust was based on a valuation agreed upon by the commissioner of wealth tax, and the trust earned a profit from the transaction. The profit was reflected in NRTT’s balance sheet as of March 31, 1989.
The order also noted that the shares were transferred subject to a condition that they would not be sold to any third party and would remain within the family of the recipient.
The commissioner further observed that Singh had not made his June 10 email complaint available to the trust, saying this indicated an intention to suppress it from the other trustees and the trust. The order said this conduct had damaged the reputation and goodwill of the trust and was “unbecoming of a Trustee of NRTT”.
Tata Trusts face fresh governance challenges
The commissioner also expressed surprise that Singh had participated in an NRTT board resolution on June 8 to represent the trust’s case before the charity commissioner, before filing his complaint two days later seeking an independent inquiry.
While questions around the validity of the NRTT share transfers have been resolved through the charity commissioner’s order, the Tata Trust ecosystem continues to grapple with multiple objections raised with the charity authority. Key among these is the claim of governance lapses at Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) by former trustee Mehli Mistry which are due for a hearing on September 8.
Parallelly, SRTT is also awaiting the charity commissioner’s response regarding its appeal for partial relief from the ban imposed on meetings. Last week, trustees of SRTT wrote to the charity commissioner once again requesting the trust board be allowed to meet for specific reasons like approval of account and grants, nomination of a representative for the Tata Sons AGM, and to select the Trust nominee members in the selection committee to appoint the new chairman of Tata Sons. There has been no response from the charity commissioner on the matter so far.