Maharashtra State Charity Commissioner directs Tata Trusts board to defer meeting scheduled for Saturday

Maharashtra State Charity Commissioner on Friday directed Tata Trusts to defer the proposed meeting of the board of trustees scheduled for May 16, citing a pending probe into the alleged violation of norms related to the board composition of Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

The Charity Commissioner also asked the Trust not to hold any such meetings till the inquiry is completed.

In a directive to the board of trustees of the Tata Trusts, Charity Commissioner, Maharashtra State, Mumbai, Amogh S Kaloti, said a direction for an inspector inquiry has already been passed and a report is awaited following a complaint regarding the composition of the Board of Trustees of Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

Tata Trusts Vice Chairman Venu Srinivasan also made a representation to the Charity Commissioner.

Comments from Tata Trusts could not be obtained as a mailed query remained unanswered.

The Charity Commissioner was asked to direct the trust to comply with the mandatory conditions by reducing the number of perpetual trustees to not more than one-fourth of the total strength, which is a maximum of one perpetual trustees in a Board of six members.

“…in exercise of the powers conferred upon the Charity Commissioner, i.e., the undersigned, by Section 36A(1) and other provisions of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, a direction is issued to the Board of Trustees of TATA Trusts to defer the meeting of the Board of Trustees scheduled to be held on 16-05-2026. It is further directed not to hold any such meeting till submission of the report of the Inspector Inquiry,” said the directive.

When contacted, advocate Katyayani Agrawal, who had first made a representation for the urgent intervention of the Charity Commissioner in the matter, confirmed receipt of the letter from the Charity Commissioner’s office, asking Tata Trusts to postpone the meeting scheduled for Saturday.

“The charity commissioner has written to Tata Trusts asking to defer all the future board meets, including one on Saturday. The inspector appointed will conduct an inquiry and submit a report to the charity commissioner,” Agarwal told PTI.

Advocate Agrawal has been sent a copy of the communication addressed to the board of Trustees of Tata Trusts.

In a representation on April 18 this year via email, Agrawal had sought the intervention for violation of Section 30A(2) of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act and asked the Charity Commissioner to exercise statutory powers under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act.

The said section, amended in September 2025, restricts perpetual or lifetime trustees on a trust to maximum of 25 per cent of the overall board strength. As per reports, three of the six trustees at Sir Ratan Tata Trust are lifetime ones.

Citing representation by Advocate Katyayani Agrawal and Venu Srinivasan, the Charity Commissioner said the “issues highlighted by them are serious and require due consideration”.

An inspector inquiry into these complaints has already been ordered, and a report of the inquiry is awaited, the directive said.

“In case, a meeting of the Board of Trustees is called, and any important decisions regarding the administration, management or composition of the Trust are taken during pendency of the said inquiry, that would lead to further complications and multiplicity of the proceedings,” it said.

It would therefore be in the interest of the Trust as well as the interest of justice that such meeting is deferred till submission of the report of the Inspector inquiry, the Charity Commissioner said in the directive.

Last week, a board meeting of the Trusts to reconsider nominations to the board of Tata Sons was postponed to May 16, with no reasons specified for the change despite the Bombay High Court declining to stay the meeting of Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), which owns 23.6 per cent of Tata Sons, the holding company of the over USD 180 billion Tata Group.

A petition had challenged the meeting, citing that the trust’s current board composition breached statutory limits introduced under the Maharashtra Public Trust (Second Amendment) Act, 2025.

It cited that SRTT currently has six trustees and three of them — Jimmy Naval Tata, Jehangir HC Jehangir, and Noel Naval Tata — are lifetime trustees, constituting 50 per cent of the board, exceeding the statutory ceiling of 25 per cent.

Published – May 15, 2026 10:47 pm IST