Tata Trusts revises Venu Srinivasan's term from life to three years to comply with Maharashtra Ordinance

In a statement, the Tata Trusts said the board decided at a meeting on Tuesday to appoint the TVS Motor Co. chairman emeritus for a period of three years, effective 12 November 2025, in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and to designate him as vice chairman of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.

The decision follows the Maharashtra Public Trusts (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, issued by the state government on 30 August.

“It is noticed that in various instruments of trusts, there is no clarity about appointment of perpetual or permanent trustees and tenure trustees and their tenure, which leads to multiple litigations before the Charity Commissioner and the court," read the ordinance, signed by the then Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, who took over as vice president on 9 September.

“This affects the working of the trusts, welfare of beneficiaries and the public," it said. “It is considered expedient to provide in the Act, by inserting new section 30A, for appointment of tenure trustees and perpetual trustees where the instrument of trusts does not contain any specific provision therefore," the ordinance added, referring to the new cap.

The new rule took effect on 1 September.

The trust management

The Tata Trusts, the umbrella group of philanthropic entities that own 65.9% of Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., is the holding company of the Tata group.

Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan, and retired defence secretary Vijay Singh are members of both trusts. Citibank India’s former CEO Pramit Jhaveri and Mumbai-based lawyer Darius Khambata serve as members of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT).

One trustee, Mehli Mistry, was removed last month after year-long differences led chair Noel Tata and vice chairmen Singh and Srinivasan to oppose his appointment as a trustee for life.

Tata Trusts inducted Neville Tata, son of Noel Tata, and Bhaskar Bhat, former Titan Co. CEO, to the board of SDTT on Tuesday.

Khambata and Pune-based philanthropist and businessman Jehangir H.C. Jehangir are members of Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT). Ratan Tata’s brother, Jimmy N. Tata, is the sixth trustee at SRTT. Due to his advancing age, he no longer participates in the Trust’s proceedings.

Chair Noel Tata was appointed a permanent trustee for life in January, while Srinivasan was appointed a permanent trustee in October.

However, following the Maharashtra government ordinance, Tata Trusts can have only one permanent trustee, as one-fourth of seven is less than two, legal experts explained.

“The original Tata Trusts deed did not have a provision for making trustees for life. It was only on 17 October 2024 that the then seven trustees unanimously passed a resolution that agreed to make the trustees whose tenure was coming to an end permanent trustees," said senior Supreme Court lawyer H.P. Ranina. “However, Tata Trusts did not make any changes to its deed and merely approved the resolution. As the new rules came into effect from 1 September, the decision to appoint Venu Srinivasan a permanent trustee stands null and void."

Distinct outcomes

Lawyers said if a trust’s governing instrument is silent about perpetual (life) trustees, the ordinance requires the trust to ensure that such trustees do not exceed one-fourth of the board.

“If the Tata Trusts’ instruments are silent on perpetual trustees, they must restructure to reduce the number of perpetual trustees to one-fourth or less, or convert some of them into tenure trustees with reappointment cycles," said Rohit Jain, managing partner, Singhania & Co.

Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the two principal Tata trusts that own 27.98% and 23.56% of Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., had on 17 October last year decided to make all trustees permanent upon the expiration of their current tenures.

Jain explained that board resolutions passed before September 2025 are not automatically insulated from the law’s provisions.

Ordinance too says

The Maharashtra government’s ordinance says as much.

“If the instrument of trust does not contain any specific provision for appointment of trustee as perpetual trustee, then, notwithstanding anything contrary to the usage of the trust or any decision that the trustees may have taken, the number of perpetual trustees at any point of time in the trust shall not exceed one-fourth of the total number of trustees," reads the six-page ordinance, dated 30 August.

Jain added that an ordinance is a temporary measure issued to address urgent situations and must be ratified by the legislature within six weeks of its first sitting after reassembly. This means the maximum effective life of any ordinance is six months plus six weeks. If the legislature does not regularise the ordinance within this period, it lapses automatically.

Yash Joglekar, counsel at Bombay High Court, the Trusts could also tackle the ordinance by challenging its validity in the high court.