Top executives of Tata Trusts have reached out to the Maharashtra charity commissioner to resolve an ongoing deadlock and formally launch the search for a new chairman of Tata Sons, a person aware of the matter said.
Tata Trusts chair Noel Tata, along with two trustees of Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) Darius Khambata and Jehangir HC Jehangir, have requested permission for SRTT to nominate a member for the search panel jointly with Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), the executive said. Once the five-member committee is formed, Tata Group can formally start the search for a successor to Tata Sons chair N. Chandrasekaran.
Separately, Noel Tata is also learnt to have conveyed to Tata Sons’ two independent directors, Harish Manwani and Anita Marangoly George, the need to include a representative from Tata Sons on this selection committee.
On 12 August, Chandrasekaran told the board of Tata Sons that he would not seek a third term after his current tenure ends on 20 February. Less than 24 hours after this development, SDTT, Tata Sons' largest philanthropic entity, which owns 27.98%, passed a resolution to establish the five-member panel to appoint a new Chair for the country’s largest conglomerate.
Nearly three weeks since then, the process remains in limbo. This is because SRTT cannot conduct any business, as a charity commissioner order dated 15 May bars it from holding board meetings or making decisions, following allegations by two of its trustees and a third complainant of wrongdoing in the Trust’s composition.
Seeking permission
“I can tell you that Mr. Tata has written to the charity commissioner, and two of the trustees, Darius Khambata and Jehangir HC Jehangir, have signed the letter, asking the commissioner to allow the Trusts to do the three basic things,” said an executive.
The letter, which was hand-delivered last week, requests specific permission to appoint a member to the selection committee. Additionally, it seeks approval for SRTT to jointly nominate a member to the Tata Sons annual general meeting (AGM) to approve its FY26 financial statements. Finally, the letter also requests approval of last year's financial accounts and the Trust's budget for the current year.
The charity commissioner's restraining order against SRTT from holding a board meeting led Tata Sons to adjourn its AGM on 18 August. This was because Tata Trusts could not jointly nominate a member to attend the meeting, resulting in the AGM being adjourned for lack of quorum, a first in its history.
Last week, the Registrar of Companies granted Tata Sons a three-month extension to hold its AGM.
Call and text messages to charity commissioner Amogh Kaloti seeking comment went unanswered. An email sent to Tata Trusts seeking comment also went unanswered.
The five-member SRTT board is led by Noel, Mumbai-based lawyer Darius Khambata, Pune-based businessman-philanthropist Jehangir H.C. Jehangir, and Ratan Tata’s younger brother, Jimmy Naval Tata. Retired defence secretary Vijay Singh, who stepped down from the SRTT board earlier this month, and TVS chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan, a member of the trust, have complained to the charity commissioner about the trust's board composition.
Tata Trusts, along with other smaller trusts, including SDTT and SRTT, own 65.9% of Tata Sons.
Under Tata Sons’ articles of association, a five-member selection committee will appoint the next chairman. SDTT and SRTT jointly nominate three members. The Tata Sons board nominates one, and Tata Sons selects one independent member from outside the Group. SDTT and SRTT choose the selection committee chairman from among their three nominees.
“One option available for the Tata Trusts to fast-track this entire process is to file a writ petition before the Bombay High Court asking to intervene and direct the charity commissioner to allow them to go ahead with the setting up of a selection committee,” said senior Supreme Court lawyer H.P. Ranina.
However, Tata executives maintain that the question of whether three of the five members of SRTT, as permanent trustees, are in breach of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Rules, which stipulate that no more than a fourth of trustees can be lifetime members, could get them drawn into a long legal wrangle.
“We don’t want to take this matter to the court because there is a view that it could delay things, and we remain hopeful that the charity commissioner will consider our request,” said the executive cited above.