The petition argued that the continuation of three perpetual trustees defeats the item 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 in the matter of lifetime trustees on the board of Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT).
The petition, filed by lawyer Katyayani Agrawal of regulation agency SV & Co, sought “urgent intervention”, alleging that SRTT, which has three lifetime trustees in a board of six members, violated the provisions of Section 30A of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950.
This part, launched via 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 appearing Chief Justice of the Madras High Court in May 2023.
When businessline contacted Justice Raja, he initially stated that any particular person might file a petition as SRTT is a public charitable belief. But he later confirmed that the petition was filed on behalf of a consumer whom he declined to determine. 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 section’
The petition argued that the continuation of three perpetual trustees defeats the item 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 current constitution of the Board of Trustees illegal and liable to be rectified forthwith,” the petition argues, calling for a right away inquiry into the composition of the board and a course to the Trust to adjust to Section 30A by decreasing the quantity of lifetime trustees.
SRTT, arrange in 1919, and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, are the 2 predominant 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 these, Noel Tata, Jimmy Tata and Jehangir HC Jehangir are lifetime trustees. According to the present regulation, there will be just one lifetime trustee on the board of SRTT.
Unless the belief board dimension is doubled, two of the current lifetime trustees will lose their privilege. Significantly, 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 intention at Noel now.
The petition has sought quick intervention. “Given the high public profile of the Trust and the fact that it controls significant public charitable funds, any delay in intervention will perpetuate an illegal state of affairs and erode public confidence in the regulatory framework. I, therefore, request that this matter be treated as extremely urgent and appropriate action be taken within the shortest possible time,” it stated.
Published on April 19, 2026