Tata Trusts on Sunday clarified that non-Zoroastrians are eligible to serve on the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution (BHJTNCI) under the original codicil of Sir Ratan Jamsetji Tata, and announced plans to seek formal amendments to the trust deed to remove restrictive clauses inserted later.
In a statement issued after a BHJTNCI board meeting on April 17 chaired by Noel Tata, the Trusts said the move would correct anomalies and align the document with the inclusive values long associated with the institution.
The clarification follows objections filed by former trustee Mehli Mistry before the Charity Commissioner challenging the appointment of trustees Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh on religious and residency grounds.
The BHJTNCI is part of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Allied Trusts though it does not directly impact the running of Tata Sons, the holding company of all Tata Group firms.
1923 Restrictive Clauses
Explaining its position, Tata Trusts said the Bai Hirabai trust was created under the 1916 codicil to the will of Sir Ratan Jamsetji Tata, who died in 1918. The BHJTNCI trust deed was incorporated in 1923.
“The Codicil did not provide for any restrictions in respect of Trustees on grounds of ethnicity, race or religion. The Codicil further provided that the Trustees of the Will of Sir Ratan (Jamestji) Tata, who were also Trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) – a Trust created by his Will – would also be Trustees of the Bai Hirabai Trust,” Tata Trusts said.
The Trusts added that there were no such religious or residency-based qualification restrictions for trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust or other Tata Trusts. Additionally, the statement said, in 2015, the objects of the Bai Hirabai Trust were enlarged to also cover the general public as beneficiaries of the activities of the Trust. The original objectives focussed on welfare activities for Navsari Parsis.
“Non- Zoroastrians have been continuously appointed to the Trust since the year 2000, following a legal opinion obtained from a former Chief Justice of India,” the Trusts said.
Path to Formal Alteration
“Nonetheless, it is a fact that the Trust Deed made in 1923 by the then Trustees, contained restrictive clauses that, amongst other things, prohibited non-Zoroastrians from being Trustees of the Bai Hirabai Trust. These provisions-imposed restrictions not provided for by Sir Ratan (Jamsetji) Tata’s Codicil,” the Trusts said.
It this is clause in the 1923 trust deed that Mistry cited in the objections filed earlier this month arguing that Srinivasan and Singh were ineligible to serve as trustees since they did not belong to the Zoroastrian faith and were not permanent residents of the Bombay Presidency or Navsari. He contended that decisions taken by such trustees, including a circular resolution that did not renew his own tenure, were invalid.
“In order to correct anomalies in the Trust Deed and to align it with the values that the Tata Trusts have always epitomised, the Trustees have decided to adopt proceedings before the appropriate authority for alteration of restrictive clauses in respect of eligibility of Trustees,” Tata Trusts said.
The trustees further reiterated their full faith and confidence in chief executive officer Siddharth Sharma. Earlier this month, it was reported that Sharma dialled both Singh and Srinivasan asking them to step away from their positions on the BHJTNCI board following the news of Mistry’s objections.
He has since sent out emails to trustees clarifying that he did speak with the trustees in question, and gave them the option to step away, but did not force the same.