Legal representatives of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) appeared before the Assistant Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra in Mumbai on Wednesday regarding routine procedures related to Section 22 of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act.
Section 22 requires the trust board to notify the charity commissioner’s office in case of any change to its board composition, or to its movable and/or immovable assets.
“Today’s appearance was relating to various change reports filed in 2024 and 2025 regarding the assets of the trust. Under the law, a trust is mandated to notify when they buy, lease or sell assets,” said a person familiar with the matter.
The next crucial appearance for SRTT at the Charity Commissioner’s Office is on July 27 when allegations made by former trustee Mehli Mistry will be addressed, those in the know said.
Mistry, in an objection filed in June has alleged governance and conflict of interest issues on the board of SRTT. He has also reportedly challenged his oustre from the board of Tata Trusts a year back.
Board Composition Dispute
Another matter looming for the trust is the petition by Advocate Katyayani Agrawal, and Vice Chairman of Tata Trusts Venu Srinivasan regarding the number of life time trustees on the board.
The petitions argue that the current number of lifetime trustees — three including Jimmy Tata, Noel Tata and Jehangir HC Jehangir — exceeds the 25% cap set forth in the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act under Section 30A (2). The SRTT board currently has six trustees — Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh and Darius Khambata, in addition to the three lifetime trustees.
A charity commissioner investigation is currently underway to assess the arguments in the petitions filed in this regard. Until such time that the investigation is concluded, the SRTT board has been directed to refrain from holding meetings per a directive issued by the Charity Commissioner in May.
