Tata Trusts and its vice-chairman Vijay Singh have sharply differed over a remark about Singh in a recent order by the Maharashtra charity commissioner, exposing the rift within the philanthropic entities controlling India's largest conglomerate.
On 2 September, the commissioner dismissed a petition challenging a 1989 transaction involving Tata Sons shares. Singh had sought an investigation into the transaction on 10 June, two days after Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust (NRTT) where he is a trustee approved the transaction, prompting the commissioner to remark that Singh's conduct "was unbecoming of a trustee.”
The ruling is significant for Singh because he was not an outside complainant challenging the Trusts from afar; he was a trustee of NRTT and vice-chairman of Tata Trusts when he called for an inquiry. The order said there was no basis for a further inquiry into the share transfer. The dismissal of Singh’s complaint could potentially weaken the Tata Trusts vice-chairman’s position within the group, after the regulator not only rejected the substance of his challenge, but also sharply criticized the manner in which he pursued it.
However, Singh insists the "unbecoming" remark came from Tata Trusts.
“Those ‘observations’ were not made by the charity commissioner but were quotes from the reply sent to the charity commissioner by the Tata trusts,” Singh said when contacted. Last month, Singh stepped down from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), which, along with the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), is the largest shareholder of Tata Sons.
A spokesperson for Tata Trusts, the majority owner of Tata Sons with a 65.9% shareholding, contested Singh’s interpretation.
“We would like to categorically state that NRTT did not make any observations pertaining to Mr Vijay Singh in their response to the Ld. Charity Commissioner dated 22nd July 2026,” a spokesperson for Tata Trusts said. “The NRTT in their response only made a factual assertion that "the said e-mail dated June 10th , 2026 from Mr Vijay Singh is not available with NRTT. The entire response of NRTT was purely factual and with reference to the five questions that had been asked of it by the Ld. Charity Commissioner vide his letter dated 9th July 2026”.
“The observations relating to Mr Vijay Singh, as referenced in our press release dated 3rd September 2026, have been made by the Ld. Charity Commissioner in his Order dated 2nd September 2026,” said a spokesperson for Tata Trusts.
Case
The case relates to a Mumbai resident who complained to the charity commissioner about a 1989 transfer of shares from a Tata trust to the late Naval Tata, which were later inherited by his sons, Tata Trusts chair Noel Tata, the late Ratan Tata, and his brother Jimmy Tata.
Tata Trusts defended the transfer and made a representation before the Charity Commissioner that this 37-year-old transaction was vetted by the eminent late jurist Nani A. Palkhivala and approved by the then board of Tata Sons.
“Mr. Vijay Singh approved this resolution on 8th June, 2026, and just a day after, i.e., on 10th June, 2026 wrote an email to this Authority and demanded an independent inquiry in the matter. It is very surprising, to say the least, that Mr. Vijay Singh on 8th June agreed in the meeting of the Board of Trustees that the share transaction was legal and valid, and on 10th June questioned the legality and validity of the very same transaction, which was widely reported in the newspapers,” said a 16-page order of the Charity Commissioner, dated 2 September.
“It is stated in the NRTT’s reply that the said e-mail of Mr. Vijay Singh is not available with the Trust, which indicates an intention on his part to suppress this from the other Trustees and the Trust as a whole. This action on his part has resulted in damaging the reputation and good will of the Trust. In that sense, conduct of Mr. Vijay Singh was unbecoming of a Trustee of NRTT”.
“I had pointed this out to ET which has published a corrigendum today. I have nothing more to say on this matter,” said Singh.
Singh was referring to the correction carried out by The Economic Times in its edition dated 4 September, after the publication, along with Business Standard, reported that the Charity Commissioner had not found any wrongdoing in the allegations regarding the 1989 share transfer.
Calls and text messages to the Charity Commissioner, Amogh Kaloti, who wrote the order, went unanswered.