The vice-chairman of Tata Trusts, Vijay Singh is claiming that his removal as a nominee director on the Tata Sons board was pre-planned by a bloc of trustees, as per a report by The Economic Times.
“The 11 September meeting was orchestrated to oust me… The episode was well planned if not plotted,” he said as per the ET report.
The financialexpress.com could not independently verify the claims. The Tata Group is yet to respond to our email seeking clarification yet. We will update as soon as we head from them.
Singh says Tata Sons listing was not the reason behind his ouster: Report
According to the ET report, Khambata—one of the four trustees who voted against Singh’s reappointment—said in a recent internal note that his decision was aimed at strengthening the Trusts’ collective voice in opposing the proposed listing of Tata Sons. However, in his first public comments since the episode, Singh rejected the claim that his ouster was linked to efforts to oppose the proposed listing of Tata Sons. “I cannot speak on Darius Khambata’s intent, but the fact is that the listing question had already been comprehensively addressed,” Singh said.
He said the Tata Sons board had discussed the listing issue over several meetings and had authorised the chairman to make the company debt-free in order to avoid a listing. “On July 8, all trustees met the Tata Sons chairman for a long discussion where listing was the central point. The Tata Sons board itself had debated the issue over several meetings and authorised the chairman to make the company debt-free to avoid a listing,” he said.
“Against this backdrop, the idea of ‘strengthening the collective voice against listing’ appears more like an afterthought—and in any case hardly grounds for removing a nominee director.”
Tata Trust board: Current composition
Singh, who was a nominee director of Tata Trusts on the board of Tata Sons, stepped down in September after four trustees voted against his reappointment.
The conflict within the board has eased for now, with chairman Noel Tata strengthening his position and trustee Mehli Mistry not being renewed.
Singh said, according to ET, the months before his exit were dominated by contentious meetings, with some trustees demanding deeper access to Tata Sons’ board agenda, minutes and internal matters. He said a trio of trustees sought to undo the long-standing governance balance between Tata Trusts and Tata Sons. “I don’t know if Mehli Mistry and his colleagues wanted to control Tata Sons, but they certainly demanded information that had never before been shared with trustees,” he said.
Ratan Tata amended Articles to retain him, claims Singh
Singh was appointed to the Tata Sons board by Ratan Tata in 2013 and reappointed in 2022. He said Ratan Tata even amended the Articles to remove the age cap so he could serve a full term. “One should note the irony of my removal. I was appointed to the Tata Sons board by Ratan Tata in 2013 and reappointed in 2022. He even amended the Articles to remove the age cap so I could serve a full term. Yet less than a year after his passing, I was removed-not by him, but by Mehli Mistry and other trustees. There is a certain grim humour in what now passes for the post-Tata way,” he said, according to ET.